It’s finally starting to feel like spring throughout the St. Teresa’s campus.  No more long, winter mornings or auction sweatpants until next year (at least, for all you non-seniors out there).  We are slowly moving to yellow daffodils and red tulips in the quad, yard days (hopefully) and windows rolled down as we drive out of the parking lot with our sunglasses on and radios blaring.  We start switching our sweaters and Uggs for raincoats and rain boots, for shorts and t-shirts, or cute summer dresses.
While I love these spring days and all of the lovely weather that is brought with it, the blossoming trees in the quad, not so much. During these first few weeks of spring, we have fallen victim to the white trees that sit right outside the front doors of both M&A and Donnelly. I know I am not alone when I say that as I step out of our buildings, a pungent odor hits me like a brick. We all try to hold our breath as we walk across the quad, trying not to breathe in the awful smell.  Don’t get me wrong, the trees are some of the prettiest on campus and look great from the parking lot. But if we get any closer, the overwhelming scent takes over and they aren’t so pretty anymore.
Teachers try to open their windows to bring in some warm, fresh air but the stench soon envelopes the room and students are begging to close them.  Right around now, we begin discussing the new fragrance found outside our doors.  Even with three previous springs here at our lovely Academy, the aroma always surprises me and I still have not found an accurate way to describe it. I’ve even heard some new descriptions this year, including one comment naming the smell as “a uniquely fishy scent”.
Well guess what St. Teresa’s?  This is the same, awful smell I get to wake up to every day.  Yes, these trees do exist other places and one in particular is my front yard, right outside my window. My favorite thing about these spring days, but especially nights, is turning the attic fan on and opening all the windows.  But unfortunately that also means waking up to THE smell.
I cannot get away from it.  I wake up to it.  I walk outside to my car in the morning and smell it.  I finally get a break from it as I drive to school but once again, I’m hit with it as I walk into Donnelly to check in.  The rancid smell is everywhere. But no matter how awful it is, it is a sign — spring has finally made it to St. Teresa’s Academy.
Final Say: The awful aroma surrounding the STA campus is a sign of spring.
