Summer is just around the corner, which means temperatures, hemlines and anticipation are all on the rise. 

As the school year draws to a close and summer vacation becomes the student body’s collective fixation, the brutal winter we experienced only a few months ago begins to fade into distant memory. Who cares about black ice and frozen crops when there’s shaved ice and flip flops to be had? But many don’t realize just how opposed the two seasons truly are. 

Wyomingites might make fun of tourists for wearing winter coats when it’s 65 degrees, but any southerner can tell you that a Wyoming summer is nothing compared to a Texas fall or a Georgia spring. Across the country, a state generally falls into one of two categories: mild summers and frostbite-from-two-minutes-outside-getting-firewood winters or temperate winters and third-degree-burns-from-your-seat-belt-buckle summers.

As a native Texan, I can confidently say that Wyoming falls into the former category. Being a warm weather gal myself, this was, of course, the sole factor in my decision to attend college in Texas in the fall. 

It would appear I’m not alone in my desire to escape the deep freeze doldrums. According to a poll posted on the PHS Prowl Instagram page, 82% of respondents preferred warm weather to cold. 

“The cold is really sad,” freshman Isabella Gomez said. “The heat has a happier atmosphere.”

Research backs this up. A study on the health benefits of warmer climates done by Stanford found that there is a direct correlation between a county’s mortality rate and how low its average temperature is. The study, which took median household income, sunlight exposure and average high and low temperatures into consideration, has been replicated in other countries to similar results. 

But not everyone agrees. 

“When you’re cold,” sophomore Jayde Ilg said, “you can get warm. But if you’re really warm, it takes a lot to get cool.”

At the end of the day, whatever weather you prefer to weather, summer is here and as far as I’m concerned, we’re all better off for it.