As the temperature increases and summer approaches, students’ moods change drastically.
Students say that the warmer weather increases their moods, and the longer days give them more energy. “When the weather is warmer I feel much happier and motivated to do school work. I look forward to this time every year because I can feel myself being a lot happier than I am with the snow and cold temperatures,” junior Molly Burns said.
One major impact seen on students with the temperature rises is the ability to get up in the mornings. During cold weather season, getting up is harder since you are forced out of your warm bed to head out into the cold. With the warmer temperatures, the motivation to get out of bed is much higher. “In the winter I never wanted to get up in the morning because I dreaded going out into my cold car and waiting several minutes for my windows to defrost. Now, with the temperatures reaching the 60s in the a.m., I find it much easier to get out of bed,” senior Eliza Merriam said.
Warm weather gives students the opportunity to do their work outdoors, boosting their moods with the sunshine and high temperatures. “While I study for my exams, I often go outside to study. Something about the warm weather and sunshine increases my happiness, which also increases my motivation to get outside and study,” sophomore Eleni Jones said.
From a teacher perspective, teachers observe that their students’ mood and attention increases as summer is approaching. “Several students ask permission to complete their work outside, and I can tell the difference in their moods. As the sunshine and warmth rises, so does their happiness and motivation to complete their work,” AP Psychology teacher Amy Buckingham said.
Although most impacts are positive, the warm weather also makes the temperatures in school unpredictable, negatively impacting both students and teachers. “I love the warm and it makes me extremely happy, but I dread some classes because of the raging heat or freezing cold inside. My sixth period class is either burning hot or freezing cold, which makes class less enjoyable,” junior Leah Kellert said.
Another negative impact the warm weather has on students is decrease in productive work. As the school year comes to an end, students, seniors especially, begin to think because summer is so soon, their schoolwork does not matter as much. “When it gets this close to summer, and AP exams are finished, I start to lose motivation,” junior Alexa Kantor said.
