The spring season is trademarked with images of flowers blooming and the sun peaking through the clouds. Along with these new sights of beauty, a new feeling emerges as things around us bloom and revive into their old selves.

JC’s campus is mirroring this feeling in a similar way. The winter months loomed with limited students and a cold building. It seemed that with all of the COVID restrictions, the building would never fully bloom into its vibrant self.
Now coming to campus, everyone is greeted with full parking lots of cars with hopeful and eager students and staff. Visitors come to enthrall in JC’s activities and exceptional talents. JC is echoing the spring season, literally and figuratively.
There’s hope within the 70+ acres for a rebirth of a once-packed building. As students had once thought it was hopeless for the remainder of their school year to be salvaged, the warm weather brought an announcement of a full in-person learning environment.
This means connections with every member of every grade level and class. This means finally being a united school front.
Seasonal Affective Disorder pulls down on the hearts and minds of people every year, but with the added obstacle of being shut off from social interaction, it seems those feelings have been intensified. Logging onto classes from home has felt repetitive and aggravating for some. After school, the snowy winter allowed for a limited time outside.
As the temperature rises and the sun can finally come out, it means sports at JC are more in action than ever before this year. The lacrosse field is filled with young Patriots ready to take on full seasons that they didn’t have the opportunity to have before. The baseball field was recently renovated with a fresh start to the season and stadium. The track field blooms with sprinters and distance runners exercising all around campus.
Not only is the season a redemption of the missed opportunities from last year, but it is a fresh start to the new life on campus. Taking the lessons and new emotions that we’ve gathered over these tough months and making it into something beautiful is the whole idea of spring that is directly exhibited through John Carroll.
JC has become a community that has gone through some challenges over the course of the school year. It has allowed for learning curves and growth for each individual and for the community.
Now it’s time to take that growth and blossom it into a new perfected version of the historical JC.
Everyone will hear the morning announcements and say the Pledge and pray together just like we used to. This spring it won’t be just reciting the same old words, but we will be appreciating the fact that every Patriot can say it together in person.
Normalcy feels closer in reach than the unpredictable months of new words to the dictionary and threatening news. It’s a healthy and happier time to gather with peers and resume what once was an everyday routine.
As hope and new opportunities continue on campus this spring, it’s a beautiful sight and feeling. To be a Patriot on campus and off campus is a privilege that this season brings. Look outside and enjoy the blooming surroundings.