Fair Weather Feelings

It’s that time of year again. The weather patterns in Southern California are shifting from classic 80-degrees and above to the occasional rain and cold breeze.

At a ethnically and culturally diverse campus like Vanguard University, it seemed appropriate to ask a diverse range of students their thoughts on the changing weather patterns. Locals often poke fun at themselves when 65-degrees comes around because of how cold they acknowledge it is in other places around the U.S.

Jessica McKee is a sophomore from Vancouver, Canada who said that it rains ten months out of the year. When it does not snow, she said there is always ice.

McKee said that if a local from Southern California were to come to Canada, they would be cold. “Everything in Canada has a chill. Here, it is more of a breeze. Here, I think that in the really early morning it is a similar temperature as in Vancouver.”

About the consistent warmth: “The sun is way better. In Canada, I wear 10 layers of pants!”

Vanguard University is a seven-minute drive from the local beaches, according to the Location page on the university’s website. This means that even during the winter season, the cold is often an effect of the marine layer in the morning soon followed by a sudden burst of sun that lasts throughout the day.

Alissa Walstead, senior from Minneapolis, Minnesota, said that she also wears a lot of layers, mittens and hats back home. In a place where temperatures during this time of the year range from 15-36 degrees with ample snow-cover, according to AccuWeather, Walstead said that the weather here is definitely not as drastic.

“I understand it feels like it’s cold here because it doesn’t change much. But I’m definitely used to it being a lot colder there than here. I have lived here for so long so the transition doesn’t feel too dramatic to me.”

Rachel Peterson, a freshman from Portland, Oregon, said that her hometown has beautiful summers and that it never gets too cold. Commenting on Vanguard’s weather, she admits, “It’s really hot all the time except at 3 a.m. My inner happy does come out when it rains.” Despite her initial doubts, she admits, “I’m learning to love the sun.”

While local students embrace the cold, out-of-towners tend to feel freedom in the consistant sun.

Jonathan McCarthy, a junior from La Mirada, had several assumptions when going from his SoCal-sunny hometown to boot camp as an Army medic in Ft. Benning, Georgia for a year.

He said, “I assumed Georgia was going to be hot. When you’re in a southern state you can’t compare to what they’re talking about. In the winter, it’s rainy and humid – we got a ridiculous amount of rainfall and random storms. It’ll pour and then it’ll stop. We would wake up in the morning and it would be pretty cold, and then it would just rain for three minutes.”

McCarthy said that in Georgia, people actually watch the weather report.

Natalee Rose, a sophomore from Rancho Santa Margarita said about her hometown, “Usually, it’s hot! It’s usually above 80-degrees generally! [The cold] makes me more tired because it’s colder and so I don’t want to be awake.”

From locals to desert dwellers, to ten-layered endurers of snow, slate, and ice, the sunny rays at Vanguard University campus seem to keep students together.