Sophomore Morgan Gallagher comes home from a long, restless day at school, wearily staring at the stack of textbooks piled up on her bed. Unable to resist the bright glints of sunlight streaming through her bedroom window, and the constant texts from her friends to hang out, she finally gives in to her case of spring fever.

“I’m definitely a huge procrastinator during spring because I feel like it’s too nice and too good of a day outside to be be stuck inside doing homework,” Gallagher said. “There’s all these spring sports coming up and at the same time, it’s warm out, so it’s not really worth doing your homework right when you get home. You want to keep putting it off until the last possible moment, especially during spring.”

English teacher Mrs. Jennifer Schrems describes her definition of spring fever.

“The feeling one gets when the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it’s warm outside, and you start to get anxious due to constantly being closed in, and want to be outside more,” Mrs. Schrems said. “Students get home from school and would rather be doing anything but having to be trapped inside with homework. They always want to be out with friends, or get a little taste of the summer, and maybe start to blow off some responsibilities since the end of the school year is in sight.”

However, for determined and driven students like junior Sudarsana Radhakrishnan, getting distracted by the pleasant atmosphere, comes with a price.

“I’m usually more busy in the spring, since I take a lot of AP classes, have a bunch of AP exams to prepare for and grades to raise before the year ends. I also play tennis, so I’m really tied up during the springtime,” Radhakrishnan said. “ I have a really strong urge to slack off, but just the fact that I have a limited amount of time to bring up my grades, motivates me to work harder. If I give in all my effort during the spring months, I can have an easy two and a half months of summer off.”

Although there is little correlation between the workload given in spring compared to other months, Mrs. Schrems explains a difference in the types of assignments given in her English classes.

“It’s really hard to keep the kids’ attention at first because they start to get restless about being locked indoors, so I try to plan certain assignments that are more enjoyable during the springtime,” Schrems said. “For my 11th grade class, I usually save introspective assignments such as writing memoirs and narratives to the end of the year, as opposed to writing a research paper.”

According to Radhakrishnan, stress levels for students are much higher in spring, as opposed to other seasons in the school year.

“Spring is more focused on getting stuff done since the school year’s gonna be over and everybody’s just rushing to get things done,” Radhakrishnan said. “Teachers give you more projects and assignments, and the pace that teachers and other people have at the beginning of the year in terms of efficiency is completely gone.”

Sophomore Jake Komer describes the physical and mental benefits of spring fever.

“The physical benefit of the constant desire to be outside, is that spring motivates people to be more active,” Komer said. For me personally, I play football a lot, and being physically fit refreshes my mind at the same time as well. Both physical and mental health are intertwined in that if one is heightened, so is the other.”

Gallagher classifies her spring personnel as one filled with joy and positivity.

“I’m a lot more cheerful and optimistic and usually less busy during spring because the urge to finally get out after half a year of Michigan’s winter makes me more proactive in a way,” Gallagher said. “This winter was really harsh, so getting up early and going outside in the bitter cold was one of the hardest things, but with the start of spring it’s not that hard to start off your day on a positive note, since you have the warmth of the weather to look forward to.”

Komer experiences a different shift in his mood.

“Although I’m usually really physically active during spring, the restlessness takes over,” Komer said. “I feel like by this time of the year, my abundant amount of energy is almost completely drained out and the only thing that gets me through school is looking forward to the end of it.”

Mrs. Schrems experiences a level of momentum that motivates her to finish household tasks and things she has ignored in the past.

“The warm weather and the longer days motivate me to do more around my house, like cleaning out my closets and garage,” Schrems said. “They also motivate me to exercise more, by going jogging and spending time outside with my son. Being outside is very mind clearing since the sunshine supplies vitamin D and usually can even lift a person’s mood.”