It's that time of year. The weather is getting colder, the days are getting longer, and there are STILL dozens of students walking around in shorts and a t-shirt or wearing their normal shoes even when it is raining. Throughout my time in college, I have noticed a key distinction between my fellow undergraduate students and the graduate student TAs and professors. The adults all actually dress for the weather.

Students frequently walk around in nothing but a t-shirt and shorts when the forecast calls for temperatures no higher than 52 degrees. Sure, 52 degrees seems warm, but keep in mind that that is the warmest point of the day. Even just a sweatshirt is a little minimal for the weather, but that still does not stop me. While I will show up to a meeting in my sweatshirt, the older people in the room will be wearing regular winter jackets or at least an actual coat.

Don't even get me started on rain. In one of my smaller classes, five students (me included) are sitting here with our shoes off, trying to dry off our socks. Did we know it was raining this morning? Yes. The forecast showed a 100% chance of rain. Even a look out the window would show that the ground was covered in water and that it was clearly wet outside. But did any of choose to wear our rain boots? Nope. Of course, my teacher (a grad student) is wearing waterproof shoes, but not us. Despite the obvious inclement weather, we still chose to wear shoes that were obviously not fitting for the rain.

Why does this happen? We know that wearing our rain boots will keep our feet dry. We are aware that coats will keep us warmer than a sweatshirt or a t-shirt will. Yet students everywhere continue to be underdressed for the weather while the older people around us are wearing waterproof shoes and warm jackets. As somebody who frequently wears sneakers instead of rainboots and tends to shiver in a sweatshirt instead of putting on my winter coat, all I can say is that sometimes students like to think of the immediate comforts rather than practical outfits.

When students turn eighteen, they are technically adults. But a true sign of adulthood is being prepared for the weather. That is not to say that all young students are unprepared for the weather. I saw many students wearing rain boots. But for every student that is prepared, there is another that is not. Look around. Aren't the older people wearing coats and the majority of younger students wearing sweatshirts?