How To Enjoy the Semi-Nice Weather

If April showers bring May flowers, what should Harvard students do in the meantime? Most trees are dead. Most days are gloomy. The wind is lethal. Sometimes it’ll even snow in the morning if you wake up early enough to see it… (a rare occasion with finals around the corner). As a Floridian, I’m extremely disoriented. I’m usually in the pool by March (if not earlier). Without the warm days of 80-degree weather back home, I’ve slowly come to appreciate the semi-nice days Cambridge blesses us with every now and then. The high of 59. The sun shining on my cold, paler-than-it-was-a-year-ago skin. The indecisiveness of it all: rainy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon, rainy in the evening all over again. I enjoy the semi-nice days for what they are — and something I’ve learned is that you have to. Otherwise, days or weeks could pass by before you get a semi-nice day to enjoy again. That doesn’t have to be you, dear burnt-out Harvard student. All it takes is a couple of easy steps.

Make the World Your Stage

Don’t know if you should wear short sleeves or a jacket? Jeans or jorts? Put it all on. Everything. Dress in layers when it’s cloudy and cold — and rip it all off the moment the sun starts shining (cue the dramatic outfit reveal). Cambridge is your runway, and you’re the model! Plus, if it happens to rain, you can always cover yourself up with your old layers. Stylish and super logistically sound. You’ll be prepared for anything.

Ditch the Puffer

More importantly: ditch the puffer. When was the last time you cleaned it anyway? It’s okay, you can be honest. (It’s not like you’re the only one.) Do us all a service (please), and give us a new (clean) outfit to praise and compliment. The best part about semi-nice weather is that you’re not confined to only hot or only cold weather-appropriate clothing. In the summer, you’re wearing the bare minimum. In the winter, you’re wearing the absolute most. If you really think about it… semi-nice weather is another form of freedom. Get creative and experiment!

Listen to Mother Nature

My proposed thesis is that a semi-nice day is actually nature’s way of helping you improve your work-life balance. To all my Lamonsters out there, it’s time to turn over a new leaf. Lock in when the clouds cover the sky and the weather is iffy. But the moment the sun comes out? It’s time to go outside and touch some grass. Read a book while lying in the Yard. Get a sweet treat. Life is worth living, and you’re so back. Mother Nature is begging you to restore balance to your stressful life (and to stop sleeping in the library basements). All you need to do is listen — with a little bit of romanticizing, of course.

Embrace the College Postcard Aesthetic

If the sun is out and you’re not out on the lawn having a picnic or doing homework, are you even Harvard-ing correctly? After the dreadful weather we had to endure this winter, 60 degrees is the new 80 degrees. Does that make sitting outside a little bit unconventional? Sure. Will the sun only be out for an hour? Well, yes! And, you know what, that’s okay. For an hour, you could become the next face featured on the admissions website (or one of Dean Khurana’s final Instagram features). You’ve already dressed the part. Now lock in!

Run While You Still Can

Listen, you could go to Boston on the weekend when it’s rainy and nasty, or you could go now when it’s semi-nice. Make your choice! Alas, if you’re scared that your window of sunshine will be wasted during the commute, fear not. Put your headphones on, walk along the Charles River, find a bench to sit on, contemplate life, and pretend you’re the main character in a coming-of-age movie. Forget about that pset for just an hour! Or more. Those come around three times a week. Semi-nice days, however? Those are a rarity.

While semi-nice days might not be perfect, they do give you the best (semi-best?) of both worlds. Why have just April showers or May flowers when you can have both? When summer brings you its first heat wave, part of you will miss these semi-nice days — as awkward and confusing as they might be.