Sunday, March 20, marked the start of the spring season, a time many college students get to enjoy the outdoors and some hope will cure their seasonal depression. As the sun warms the Earth, the birds rejoin the trees with tweets, the flowers start to bloom once more and downtown Pittsburgh starts to look a little more beautiful each spring day. Not only is spring a marker in terms of the environment, but it also means that the spring semester is towards its end, encouraging students to make the best of it.

There are a lot of reasons to look forward to spring and students relish the fact that they can now spend more time outside. For senior screenwriting major, Victoria Russic, being able to go outside without a jacket is one of the best parts of the changing weather.

“I love living in the city during the spring. It’s amazing getting to see it come alive again after the winter,” Russic said. “My favorite places to go are the Strip District and South Side or anywhere with a lot of walking, really. It’s so nice not freezing to death on walks anymore.”

Junior animation and VFX major, Grace Watson, shares many of the same sentiments as Russic when it comes to living on campus during the springtime. Though, for her, spring puts an emphasis on sitting around the city in peace rather than walking.

“It’s nice to be able to go outside again and to have the chairs out in PPG Place and Market Square,” Watson said. “I love sitting down at The Point and out in Village Park too. Ever since the pandemic, sitting outside is one of my favorite things to do.”

It’s not just the weather that makes spring enjoyable for Watson though, it’s the all-encompassing feeling of spring and how people react to the change in the season that makes it all the better after a long winter.

“Spring—when it finally is actually warm outside—always seems to brighten everyone’s mood,” Watson said. “The sun being out and the leaves growing on the trees again makes up for the more depressing, late winter part of the year. So, I would really encourage people to go outside and enjoy the sun.”

It seems that spring brings out some of the best parts of people. This is especially true for spring-enthusiast and junior cinema production major, Mara Leroux, who wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but Pittsburgh for spring.

“Living downtown during spring is exciting and oh so unpredictable, it always keeps you on your toes,” Leroux said. “The weather could be the beginning seconds of summer and then the next day it is snowing again and you have to find your winter coat you already put away. Plus, you see the trees gaining leaves once again, flowers being planted around the city, and a lot more people are out that you can see fishing or up on Mount Washington taking in the sights.”

One thing that Leroux said they love about Pittsburgh in the spring is the variety that there is to do, whether that’s going to the zoo as the animals start coming out more, adventuring to Phipps Conservatory, or even budget activities like a picnic and riding the electric scooters around the city. It’s their advice to underclassmen to enjoy activities on these rare, sunny Pittsburgh days as much as possible.

“Be outside as much as you can on the warm days,” Leroux said. “They really come and go so take advantage of the warmer days and do some homework in Village Park or go on a walk with some pals. Also, stay prepared for weather changes, you never know what day is going to need an umbrella. Don’t forget that as pretty as the flowers are, they need the rain to bloom, so be patient because summer will be here soon enough.”