Springtime is a lovely time of year. There are the beautiful blossoming flowers, the ever-warming crisp breeze and the harmonious melodies of chirping birds that entrap us in a peaceful bliss. This is the springtime that is crafted in poetry, or the springtime that we are taught in kindergarten; is it not? What many, like myself, are painfully realizing is that real life is not poetry, nor are we in kindergarten. Oh yeah, and we live in Binghamton.

In welcoming students back, Binghamton has done its best to remind us that the spring in ‘spring semester’ is more illusion than reality. The barren trees that looked oh-so-dreadful during finals week are no less emaciated than before exams. The freezing rain and snow that infiltrated Binghamton before winter break has taken no vacation. As for chirping songbirds, one will have to settle on the grinding and churning of tractors, as the lack of sunshine has done nothing to halt the University’s reconstruction efforts.

Though the atmosphere on campus resembles anything but springtime, there are still reasons to be cheerful and walk with that extra spring in your step to start off the semester. For starters, we get to pick new classes. All of that frustration that came along with registering for classes, trying to fulfill GenEd requirements, and trying desperately to avoid those 8:30s is back again ‘ √ùbut no worries,√ù at least you won’t have to deal with that heinously evil teacher who gave you a C last semester. The odds of that happening again have to be marginal right? I suppose that’s if you can get into a good class before it instantly fills up.

If choosing new classes doesn’t brighten up your day, then selling your old textbooks and buying new ones should do the trick. Important announcement from the bookstore: ‘Sell your used textbooks back and receive up to 50 percent off.’ That’s right, ‘up to,’√ù and that’s if the class the book was used for is offered this semester, and if the teacher is still using the same edition.

Odds are you may get a few bucks for your book, but don’t count on anything near the resale price.

The bookstore is running a promotion where you can trade your ridiculously expensive books for three free tacos from the Taco Bell in the New Union. (I apologize for getting your hopes up, this promotion does not actually exist.)

Enough about classes and textbooks already. Who really associates that with spring? The real thing we should be looking forward to is spring break. Cancun, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, I can see it now. What better a way of taking a break from college life than to pay and go somewhere to party, drink and mingle with those of the opposite sex for a few days?

If I seem overly sarcastic, or just downright cynical, it’s probably just because I am trying to adjust to dining hall food again. Really, there is much to look forward to this spring. College is college, and the mere fact that we all get to live the college life ‘ at least for the time being ‘ is enough in itself. The sun will shine, the flowers will grow and the birds will sing here in Binghamton. Just not at the start of the ‘spring’√ù semester.