As I look up from my computer screen and out the window of my 5 p.m. Comparative Politics class, the sky is dark, Centennial Quad is empty and my classmates and I are passing yawns back and forth across the room.
It’s that time of year again. Just after Halloweekend came to a close, the clocks were turned back Nov. 2. Now, in Boston, the sun sets around 4:30 p.m., while before, it set around 5:30 p.m.
In college, every hour of the day is valuable time. Whether you have an exam to study for, a club meeting or plans to go to the gym, motivation is key. Staying involved on campus and maintaining the social energy to interact with our peers requires a certain drive — one that gets harder to retain as the sun vanishes halfway through the afternoon.
When the sun sets at 4:30 p.m., a peak time for productivity between classes and extracurriculars, that drive is threatened. If it was already hard to stay awake while reviewing lecture notes under Snell Library’s dim, cozy lights, it just got 20 times harder.
Darkness has been shown to trigger the body’s production of melatonin, the hormone that prepares the body for sleep. With the early release, our perception of time gets completely distorted. As I sit here writing this in the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex Nov. 5 at 4:58 p.m., a girl next to me is nestled in her arms, fast asleep over her computer.
In regards to mental health, it is well-known that sunlight is a vital source of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood and promotes feelings of happiness. When our exposure to light decreases, so does our energy and drive.
Some refer to it as the “winter blues.” If you have been feeling sleepy, foggy or unmotivated lately, you are not lazy. The stigma around winter “laziness” is problematic, as it undermines self-confidence and overlooks what is really happening to your body. Your body is experiencing withdrawal from the sun. It isn’t weakness, it’s chemistry.
At Northeastern, the darkness only intensifies the difficulty of keeping up with campus hustle culture.
While life at college already demands constant motion — deadlines, finals, club meetings, co-op applications — winter slows everything down. This mismatch between emotional energy and academic demands leads to burnout. It is easy to feel like everyone else is one step ahead of you or that you aren’t doing enough.
And let’s be honest: When it’s dark, it gets so cold. Like super-duper cold. The kind of cold that makes you question why you even decided to go to school in New England.
Not only is the dark cold and harsh, but it is also isolating. As a city university, our connectivity is highly reliant on campus energy and student well-being. During the spring and fall, there’s a unique vibrance and a general sense that something fun is always happening on school grounds.
As Boston gets darker, people begin to talk less and walk faster. Students search for shortcuts to class and avoid socializing on the quad. Everyone’s goal is to get comfortable and sleepily retreat indoors. Spontaneous hangouts and late-night study sessions turn into “maybes” and texts that read, “I’m not gonna lie, I’m really tired, it feels like 1 a.m. and I don’t want to walk in the cold lol.”
The constant buzz of students selling donuts for fundraisers on Centennial, eating lunch outside or hanging their hammocks between trees dies down. Instead, it is replaced by the swirling sounds of wind.
Daylight savings does not just change the clocks; it also affects our rhythm and perception of time and triggers seasonal depression. It shortens our sense of the day and blurs the regular boundary we maintain between productivity and rest. The disconnection, loss of sunlight and lack of social interaction continue to fuel seasonal depression at Northeastern.
So, how do we combat these issues? Although it is a jarring struggle, it is possible.
The darker months are asking us to take a step back, slow down and listen to what our bodies really need.
Sometimes, when 5 p.m. feels like 10 p.m., the most productive thing you can do is get comfy, acknowledge that you are tired and give yourself time to reset.
Finding small things to look forward to throughout the week makes the most significant difference: grabbing hot chocolate with a friend after class, cooking with roommates, picking up a new hobby, going to that club meeting you wanted to skip or even simply starting a new show.
And when the sun is out, go outside and say hello. Take a walk in-between classes, open your blinds or study by a sunny window. Every drop counts.
Chloe Mondi is a second-year journalism and political science combined major. She can be reached at [email protected].
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