Stuff Mason Students Like #5: The Weather

Students lay out, toss frisbees and enjoy the weather almost whenever they can, sometimes skipping class to do so. (Cathi Acosta)

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UPDATED 1:55 a.m. 

About one-third of my mid-afternoon culture class was absent this past Wednesday. We had two assignments to turn in, and we got our exams back. But apparently, these promises were not incentive enough to keep students in class. Instead, there was another strong factor that pulled these students — and surely many other students — away from classes this week.

And that, unsurprisingly, was simply the weather.

To understand why the sun seemed to mean so much to several students, let’s think back to early February when about two feet of snow was dumped on Fairfax.

The 'Snowpocalypse' kicked off a period of crummy weather in Fairfax. Once it finally stopped snowing, the following days were characterized by strong winds and overcast — the kind of weather that trapped you inside and forced you to study. After all, what else was there to do?


Now, nature teased us a bit by throwing in a few days that reached the 70s. But these days, too, were followed by what seemed to be an unending promise of cloudy, cool and drizzly weather. For two months, the cold, wind and rain insisted on hanging out in Fairfax. Talk about overstaying your welcome.

But now it seems like they have. You can see why the simple blessing of the sun and blue skies is enough to pull students away from their classes. What’s better is that this beautiful weather will last for more than just a few days. So if you are going to skip class, you better be smart about it because there will be plenty of opportunities to do so with April’s sunny days to come.

The bright sunshine and blue skies are pulling Mason students out of their dorms and classrooms.Now that people want to be outside and enjoy the weather, campus looks more alive and vibrant.

What a good impression it is for the large tour groups that have been coming in recently. As they walk around now, they better be careful to not get hit by a Frisbee, especially when walking between the benches in front of Fenwick and the cubes by Skyline.

Those wide-eyed high schoolers and their concerned parents will also surely see plenty of people long boarding around Patriot Circle. And groups touring freshmen housing in Presidents Park will see the expected consequence of this nice weather: freshman girls laying out on the Park’s grass. I’m surprised that I haven’t heard any stories of these girls having water balloons thrown at them.

It seems that Fairfax has finally broken free from the clutches of cold weather. As a result, Mason students are outside throwing Frisbees around, long boarding, tanning or skipping class. It is finally feeling like spring . . . and yet people are still wearing Uggs and North Face jackets. 

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Writer's Note: Inspired by the popular blog, Stuff White People Like, “Stuff Mason Students Like” is pretty self-explanatory in drawing attention to the stuff that George Mason University students like. This column aims to foster a common culture among Mason’s student population, publish what people are thinking and say, and most importantly, to poke some fun at the Mason student body.