A Moment of Happiness

Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.

-Yoko Ono

Spring in Baltimore is something that truly adds to the charm of being a student at Hopkins. There is the smell of spring in the air, that unexplainable sensation of the earth coming alive after a long and harsh winter. It is a season of firsts: the first flowers to bloom, the trees coming alive, seeing the birds, and Hopkins’ notorious squirrels and rabbits be bionically-active again.

Those from the mid-Atlantic are familiar with the process, the flowers sprouting, the bushes and trees being pruned, and the lovely scent of manure in the air. The spring in this region is something to behold, it is almost as if Mother Nature is rewarding those who have to suffer through winter weather. And after the winter we had, the joy of seeing flowers around campus is just a bit sweeter this year.

Weather is Baltimore can be either a selling point for potential Hopkins students, or an obstacle to overcome. The latter is an attitude usually offered by those coming from areas that have one season and amazing weather year-round. I happen to enjoy the entire range of seasons offered in the mid-Atlantic.

Our winter is an actual winter, where the act of huddling up with friends at a café for hot chocolate is an interaction that is necessitated by the January cold. The blizzards we had this past winter are a complete anomaly, which I can say out of personal experience, living in the area for nearly the entirety of my life and never experiencing that level of blizzard before.

Spring in Baltimore, as I’ve mentioned, is glorious. Especially at Hopkins, where students come out in packs to enjoy the beautiful weather on the Beach, the quads and anywhere else we can sit outside to feel the sunshine. Seeing the campus getting green again is not good for staying academically focused, but it is beautiful. We do, like everywhere else in the world, get rain. Especially during March and April, but the saying “April showers bring May flowers” isn’t for naught, and the end result of those showers is more than worth dealing with some drizzling.

I have never actually spent an entire summer in Baltimore, but I have spent a few weekends up here and DC weather is essentially identical so know that when I say summer in the mid-Atlantic is humid but insanely pretty I’m telling the truth. The Homewood campus, especially, is gloriously lush and green. I remember seeing the campus for the first time with my family in July, and they were in awe that I would get to go to school on such a beautiful campus.

And autumn, being my absolute favorite season, is saved for last. I love the fall in Baltimore because it is always just the right temperature. It is perfect for lunches outside and still wearing sweaters. Autumn has always had such a collegiately association in my subconscious, which is probably why I always like the Fall semester more than the Spring.

Essentially, if you spend an entire year in Baltimore you will enjoy the best of the season that is your personal favorite, and also get to experience some other fantastic types of weather as well.

As an aside: JHU_Greco is an amazing photographer, and he has taken many shots of the campus over his freshmen year. His personal blog contains much of them, I would highly recommend you head over there to behold the Homewood campus in all its glory.

Blizzard photos credited to Wilk Kirk Photography.