It is a common opinion that spring is the best season of the year for outdoor activities. These activities include walking, swimming, biking and many others. Over this year’s spring break, Seahawks participated in lots of these activities, both on vacation in beautiful places and in Lawrence.
Faculty member Kara Schrader shares that, during her spring break, she participated in her personal favorite activity: cycling. Schrader adds that she is currently “training for an event at the beginning of May… It’s a gravel bike race, it’s just 65 miles, and it’s in Emporia.” Schrader visited Southwest Colorado with her family during the break “to ski and bike and hike … I would say I have more time to do those activities when I’m on vacation, so I probably do more of them more frequently … I try to get outside and be active as much as I can when I’m in Kansas, too.”
Eighth grader Rand Ababneh is currently playing on the Seabury soccer team, something she has been doing since sixth grade. When asked about her favorite spring activity, Ababneh says, “For eighth grade, a lot of activities and grade bonding happen. We have our Worlds of Fun [choir competition]; we have form trips. So it’s a lot to look forward to.” Over spring break, Ababneh went on a cruise with her family: “We went to the Virgin Islands, two of them, and then we went to a private island that the cruise line owned,” she says. When asked if she does more outdoor activities when she is in Kansas or on vacation, Ababneh says, “When I’m in Kansas, I hate the weather. I’m just too tired.” On her cruise however, Ababneh shares that she was “doing every single activity I can find. I just stay outside and spend every moment [there] … I’m not wasting any time.” Ababneh says that she associates spring with being outdoors because “it’s soccer season, so I’m spending more time outside, [and] the weather’s getting better.” Ababneh also adds that, during the spring season, “my friends like to go out more and even just go on walks; one of my really good friends [is my] neighbor, so we’ll just walk.”
Junior Charlie Maples, who participated in Seabury’s cross country team in the fall and is currently acting in the all-school musical, says “After I got back, I kind of just stayed home and mowed the lawn; that was kind of it … for outdoors stuff in Lawrence.” Maples also shares that he tends to spend more time indoors at home, adding that “it depends on where I’m going … if there’s cool stuff to do outside then I’ll go outside and do it, but if there’s not then I’ll go visit a museum or something, and that’s fun as well.” Maples says the reason for this is because “it’s more appealing to go outside when it’s something that I can’t do every day.” Maples offers a different perspective on the spring season, stating that when he envisions it, he pictures “birds chirping and the sun shining and all that, but I also picture my allergies messing me up and everything … that’s kind of my love-hate relationship with spring.”
Freshman Zoe Huebner is also on Seabury’s soccer team and went to Huntington Beach, California over spring break. When asked about her favorite springtime activity, Huebner says,“I like going on walks with my dog [and] playing soccer.” Huebner shares her favorite thing that she got to do on vacation: “We went to the ocean a lot, it was really nice. Our trip was really unstructured, so we could wake up whenever we wanted, go to the beach, and then go to the pool when we wanted. There were surfers, so it was cool to watch them, and the waves were perfect,” she says. Huebner adds that she generally spends more time outside on vacation than in Kansas, saying that her family is “not really the family that always has activities lined up. Sometimes we go snorkeling, if we’re on a beach trip, or sometimes we go on hikes and stuff. This trip was really relaxing and just chill.” Huebner shares that when she thinks about spring break, she envisions being outdoors and active, as well as flowers and plants beginning to grow. When asked what season is the best to be outdoors, Huebner says, “spring. You know, it’s not too hot or too cold, but it’s kind of perfect weather in the middle.”
Overall, this year’s spring break was filled with so many fun outdoor activities. These experiences greatly contribute to the entire experience of the spring season and the students that participate in them. Spring is the universal season of nature and growth, and a time that is perfect for outdoor activities.
