Skipping the usual mug of coffee in the morning, you grab a bottle of water and hope a little H2O is enough to ward off droopy eyes. Clutching your keys, backpack and class schedule, you contemplate the shortest route to take to Grounds -- but there's no avoiding a trek through the steamy weather.
Hurrying out the door, your forehead is covered in droplets of sweat before the apartment door slams behind you.
After a morning full of classes, second-year Engineering student Brooke Yamakoshi is spending part of her afternoon tabling outside the bookstore for Second Year Council. The contrast between the Engineering school classrooms and the outside is a lot to handle.
While there is a seat at the table for Yamakoshi, she said, "I am trying to stand over here in the shade instead of sitting in the chair."
Although Yamakoshi didn't have time for lunch, she said she is trying to drink as much water as possible.
Ph.D. Engineering student Robert Bass also stays hydrated with a beverage. Reading a newspaper under the tent in front of the bookstore, he makes sure to have his tropical citrus vitamin water next to him. Bass, however, said he is taking a break from his frigid office in Thornton to enjoy the warm weather.
"I actually think it's nice out," he said. "My office is freezing."
Bass said he enjoys his walk to Thornton in the morning. He also said he leaves at 8 a.m. -- before the heat sets in.
Bass, however, simply doesn't mind the heat. He has air conditioning at his house on Brandon Avenue but chooses not to use it.
"Fans are good enough," Bass said.
Alumna Barbara Boykin would disagree.
"If my [house] wasn't air conditioned, then the heat would bother me," Boykin said.
But she is not too bothered by the heat. After spending the summer in Florida working at a summer camp, Boykin said she is accustomed to the heat and humidity.
"Ninety was a good day," she said.
Boykin does, however, have a few tips for staying cool.
"Don't wait to do laundry," she said, dressed in a long sleeved shirt and khaki pants.
She also suggested wearing your hair up and drinking water.
Wearing light colors also helps, Boykin added.
Bass, on the other hand, had different advice.
"It will be cold soon enough," he said. "So enjoy it while we can."
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