As I sit and write this editorial, I feel extremely lucky that the newsroom has no windows.  If it did, I probably wouldn’t be here, but would instead be outside in the stunning, 70 degree weather, in my hammock on T-Hall lawn, drinking a smoothie and petting dogs.  We at The New Hampshire have done a short newsroom poll (page six), and it seems as though my colleagues feel the same way. Unfortunately folks, what we have here is a case of Spring Fever; a completely fictional condition that is lethal to school work, house work, homework and all other kinds of work there are.  

Now I know this isn’t just contagious in the newsroom, because as I drove here today, I passed an innumerable amount of people playing beach volleyball and sipping Solo cups on their lawns. I’m pretty sure we have all caught the bug.

I get it.  Winter lasted for far too long, and we are all very excited about the fact that we can put our parkas away and not have our ears hurt while walking to class. But as exciting as this change of season is, we as Wildcats cannot let it get in the way of the reason we are here.  

Here are the facts: as of the 2017-18 year, according to the UNH Business Services website, in-state students at UNH will pay about $30,000 per year to attend this university.  Out-of-state students are up to almost $44,000. For just tuition alone, that is about $14,000 for in-state and $29,000 for out-of-state students every year.  If you take eight courses per year, and each class is around four credits, lasting for, let’s say about two classes per week for a little less than 16 weeks (on average, I’m just spit balling here) then each individual class costs around $113 for out-of state and $54 for in-state students.  I am not a math major, let me make that clear, but I think that those numbers are at least somewhat correct.

The point I am struggling to make is that college costs a lot of money.  Every time you skip a class, you waste around $50-$150. If you have the kind of lifestyle or job where you can afford to do that, then good for you.  But as far as I know, most college students have a hard time just paying for rent, groceries and gas every single week, let alone coughing up $50 twice a week for skipping a class.  

It is no secret that laying around T-Hall in the sun is one of the biggest pastimes of UNH.  But the government, the university, your parents, yourselves or whomever else are not paying for you to mess around.  You are here because you were accepted into a prestigious university and are attending in order to receive a college education and better yourself. Somebody, somewhere is paying a lot of money for you to be here, don’t take that for granted.

Life is all about balance.  Spring is here and it is a beautiful day and no one should be cooped up in Dimond Library writing papers until it gets dark.  We have a wonderfully beautiful campus that deserves to be enjoyed, and you deserve to enjoy it.  But don’t let the sunshine affect your motivation to succeed. There is no reason you should not be able to be a successful student who also has fun.  

So as you read this underneath the shade of a tree on T-Hall lawn, be sure to take in the beautiful day around you before you get back to work. The end of the semester is almost here, so enjoy it while it lasts. Then finish strong, and do what you came here to do.