As the icons on my weather channel app have changed from images of snow and clouds to mostly suns as far out as the forecast reaches: the atmosphere and attitude on campus has changed as well.  As the first nice weekend of the season finally made its way to the Midwest, campus seemed to come alive.

Upper campus went from being deserted to resembling an opening scene of a cheesy teenage chick flick. You know, the one where the girl moves into college and there’s a million people everywhere: playing Frisbee, grilling, tanning, laughing and there’s a cheesy pop song playing in the background?

Towers field literally became that scene with the arrival of the sun and the rise and temperature and thanks to someone with a very good stereo system the cheesy pop song was even included.

I have to admit: being an amazingly large fan of spring I was elated to see such a sight, but it also got me wondering. With the option to always being outside how was I possibly going to get anything done before the semester officially comes to a close?  And it got me wondering about something else too: is it possible to find the balance between work and fun?

I started thinking about our routines as busy college students: each week I scribble down notes, commitments and reminders all over the pages of the bright yellow student planner that was waiting for me on my desk when I arrived last August. Sometimes it seems like it all just builds: one thing after another: always a test, a paper, an assignment to get done, an advising appointment to attend. And all just to stay on the “road to success.”

Most of us are told early and often that we need to know what we’re doing with the rest of our lives and we need to get out of here in four years: or at least that’s the goal. I am most definitely among the masses doing anything and everything to reach that goal, but I wonder if it prohibits us from accomplishing other goals.

Does the pressure to stay on track keep us from partaking in that afternoon game of Frisbee on Towers field? And if it does, what’s is there consequence? Our society is dubbed over and over again for being “fast pace.”

After all it’s the American way to always keep moving onward and upward, but here’s the conclusion I’ve come to: we need to start valuing things besides conventional success: things other than four-year graduation rates and GPAs.

I think we all need to slow down a bit: take more time to smell the roses, look around, enjoy life, and take it all in. I think more value needs to be attached to young people pursuing and making time for their passions instead of just their school assignments. Students should be encouraged to scribble down reminders in their planners to go outside, grill with their friends, enjoy the weather.

I think if we take more time to slow down and take more detours off the road straight to the top we might even find ourselves arriving at success more easily.

The fulfillment we receive from taking the time to pursue our real passions may be just the motivation we’ve been missing it our lives. Maybe taking more time to do what we want to do will translate as a motivator to do what we have to do.

And to think: all these thoughts came to be because my Weather Channel app finally had good news to report. Happy spring, sconnies. Enjoy it.