Cycle of Seasons

“Nothing is permanent except change”, but in a way I feel change is cyclical. Just like the cycle of seasons. So if we are ever feeling down, an optimist’s view would be to not despair because “good times” are right around the corner just as you look forward to the Fall after the heat of the Summer or the Spring after the bitter cold of the Winter.

Taking the ‘cycle of seasons’ analogy further, I feel the best part of living in the US thus far has been experiencing the four seasons in all their glory. The Summers are great given the extra hours of daylight, the good weather (just perfect to wear shorts!), the road trips and not to mention the peace and quite on campus. Summers are the best time to get research done since everything is quite, people are relaxed and everyone is free from the pressures of class work. Of course by the time you have your fill of the Summers, Fall rolls in. Fall is another one of those beautiful times when the surroundings turn into a kaleidoscope of beautiful colors! Nothing can be more scenic than the foliage around you. Fall to me also symbolizes the sense of excitement on campus with new faces, a new sense of purpose and the beginning of the academic calendar. As Winter rolls in during December, the snow seems to put a damper on the spirits but it’s a great time to enjoy the powdery, misty flakes. As someone who had experienced the 3rd worst winter of the past century in the good old “Prairies” of Minnesota, the best piece of advice I had gotten to Winter survival was to be an optimist, enjoy the weather (even if it was 30 below freezing with the wind chills, after all a good sense of humor always warms you right-up) and try to be outdoors as much as you physically can without being cooped up indoors for too long. How I loved to kick back on those cold wintery days as the days got shorter and the nights long, with a hot cup of coffee (or soup) and watch the latest action flick or college football, bliss!! After Winter, March followed in time for Spring and after having survived those three months of snow you are ready for the trees to turn green again. Spring is the time for ‘re-birth’, to plan ahead to the future and to contemplate on the year gone by. And then the cycle begins all over again, just like that…..