BY BECKY FULTON – STAFF WRITER
With the promise of spring and warmer weather, Centre students are crawling out of their Netflix nests to spend more time outdoors on campus and around Danville. Abandoning the blankets and sweatpants of colder days, students now take to shorts and leave behind their jackets.
And, even though both Centre and Danville are but small specks on a map, there’s plenty of ways for students enjoy the season as the school year comes to a close.
A popular choice among many students is sitting outside while working on assignments or eating meals. Most of the grassy areas on campus—such as the Centre lawn, Breck Beach, and the spaces outside Young and the library—become riddled with blankets once the sun decides to shine. Students can also be seen taking naps on these blankets as a way to take advantage of the sun. The tables outside the Campus Center is a great space for students to gather, either to do homework or meet for meals.
These grassy areas lend themselves to pick up games of soccer and Ultimate Frisbee, and so, students can take small breaks from their studies, especially as finals draw near and the mountain of assignments grows.
Also on the Centre lawn is the Swing. A well-known study break spot, many students congregate around the tulip tree when the weather turns away from the winter chill. Put up by former students, the Swing provides a way to spend time outside while doing something besides sitting on a bench or the grass.
Within a short walk from campus are eateries that students frequent as the winter turns into spring. Two of the most popular are Burke’s Bakery and the Hub Café, which are only a couple blocks down Main Street. Both are frequent haunts of Centre students when looking for a small escape from campus, and offer alternatives to the food provided in Cowan. Another popular restaurant for Centre students is the Bluegrass Pizza and Pub. Also employing many students, the restaurant is a way for students to get out and enjoy the weather by walking into town and experiencing something different.
Still within walking or running distance from Centre’s campus is Millennium Park, off of Perryville Road. The park provides space for a myriad of activities. Students choose to use this area as a place to run, with the almost 3 miles of paths that snake arounds the park. Millennium Park also has a pond where students will occasionally walk down with stale bread to feed the ducks, another form of stress relief and a great study breaker. For the college students who are still children at heart, the park also has a playground that students frequent from time to time, providing an escape from the world of school responsibilities.
Students with cars can travel the roughly 15 minute drive to the Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge, where students can see the blooming flora and fauna of Kentucky. With many hiking trails across the 500 acre preserve, the refuge is a place for students to enjoy the local wildlife of Kentucky and escape from the hustle and bustle of Centre life.
Spring is a time of growth and blossoming, and students once again spend more time outside in the thawing of winter and the unfolding of a livelier season. As the weather grows ever warmer, the outside activities will continue to grow as students spend more time outside as the school years builds towards May and finals.