There are few things more terrifying or panic inducing in the life of a college student than Sunday. As Saturday night approaches, so too comes a sobering realization: the fun is quickly coming to an end. Panic arises on the faces of students up and down High Street, aware that in a few short hours they will wake up to excruciating anxiety and possibly a hangover worse than Ed Helm's. It's all fun and games until Sunday comes around.
Sunday's place of darkness and infamy in our minds is paradoxical, the meaning of the word literally being the "sun's day." Derived from the old English word "sunedai," it is widely recognized as a day of thanks, rest and reflection. Businesses close, church doors open. Although meant to be a great day, I abhorred it when I was a kid. Friday and Saturday I was free to eat endless slices of pizza and watch hours of "Punky Brewster." Sunday was game over.
Perhaps it is the memory of church and homework-filled Sundays from childhood that has permanently attached such a negative connotation to the word. Or maybe to blame are the six nights of revelry that precede it, leaving us literally incapable of accepting the fact that there are things we are required to do that are simply no fun.
College students have been fighting back against Sunday's bullying effects with a vigor that had long remained dormant. Meet Sunday Funday. Urban dictionary defines the term as "the glorious holiday at the end of every week to celebrate the end of a long and tiring 6 days," a way to keep from "hanging up your party pants" for another day. College students have brought the life back into Sunday the only way they know how, keeping their party pants on.
Another advocate changing the face of "Sunday" is Bob Sampson, a principal in the small town of Bellingham, Wash. Sampson's approach has less to do with hangovers and more with treasuring exactly what the word requests, the sun. As principal of a small Christian school composed of preschoolers to eighth-graders, Sampson has the authority to cancel classes on snowy days. Located just 90 miles outside of Seattle, a large amount of snow is a rarity. Searching the weather forecast any given day in Bellingham you are likely to find a temperature in the 50s and an abundance of rain. This means few days filled with snow, and even fewer with sun.
With an unusually warm winter, the unlucky students did not enjoy a single snow day. When the forecast called for 65-degree weather and sunshine this past Wednesday, Principal Sampson did what will undoubtedly make him one of the most revered elementary school principals of all-time, he declared a "sun day." Posting a picture of himself in the sunshine with thumbs up on the school Web site, he published this message underneath, "Good morning students, parents and staff. Yes, It's a Sun Day! That's right, school is CANCELLED today due to good weather! Enjoy!" Although the impromptu day-off occurred on a Wednesday, it gave the students the chance to live the spirit of Sunday and literally worship the sun. A video by the Associated Press shows a group of kids living out the dream of every student plagued with Spring Fever.
It is doubtful Sunday will ever be the most popular day of the week, but whatever the reason, the day alone is no excuse to sulk. . If the worst we are forced go through each week is an anxiety ridden, regret-filled Sunday, our lives are something to be envied. Rather than spend an entire day mourning that the fun is over, we should be grateful the fun is even there to begin with.
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