PHOTO STORY: Signs of Spring

As the first tulip sprouts push through the Mount Pleasant ground, both the students and the weather agree — spring has officially arrived on Central Michigan University’s Campus.  Here are the main signs that the dreaded ­­winter months are coming to an end.

Students are trading trips home after class for a picnic table in the Fabiano Gardens. Sitting at tables scattered with notebooks and notecards, numerous students are choosing to study outdoors while sipping on their favorite coffee shop beverage.

Even the caffeinated beverages that become stipends for some college students around finals are transitioning away from the cold winter months. Like the disappearing of winter gloves, steaming hot beverages surrounded by a cardboard sleeve are being replaced by iced coffees and teas, reminding the palate of the summer season to come.

Winter gloves, jackets and scarves are tucked away as spring clothes and the occasional pair of shorts make their way into the outfits spotted on campus. When the sun is shining, a winter jacket can’t be seen. The lighter wardrobe welcomes modes of transportation like bikes, blades and long boards.

Bike racks around campus are filling up as the last remaining ice patches melt from the streets. The lingering piles of snow in the resident hall parking lots are promised to disappear with the arrival of April showers, and the change of scenery couldn’t be more welcomed by the Central Michigan University Campus.