How Weather Affects Mood by Liz Russo

-
Annoyed With The Gloomy Weather? Here's How You Can Beat Incessant ...During quarantine, I have noticed that the weather outside has had an extreme impact on my mood. On sunny days, I feel more awake and productive, while on rainy days, I feel lazy and sleepy. It wouldn't be that bad to have a rainy, lazy day every once in a while, but Sparta has experienced countless gloomy days in April. On these days schoolwork seems to take forever for me because I have no motivation to get it done. When I do finally finish work, the day seems to be over and I feel very unproductive. 
I wanted to make sure it wasn't just me that was getting affected by the weather outside my window, so I looked it up - and what I found was super interesting. Scientists have found that more serotonin -  a hormone in the brain that lightens mood - is released in the brain when there is more exposure to light and less serotonin is released when there is less sun exposure. In extreme cases, someone could be diagnoses with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), that it is basically a depression that starts at the beginning of Fall and disappears when Spring arrives. 
I have also noticed that because we have had so many rainy days - and I've had so many unproductive ones - April flew by. March seemed to feel like forever for me because I was productive with my days  and got a lot of things done to save me from being bored. My goal for May is to get things done even if the weather does not want to cooperate.
However, the good thing about the gloomy days is that they have really made me appreciate the nice days. Every day there is at least a bit of sunshine, I make sure to get time outside. I am very excited for this weekend because it is supposed to be sunny.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ancient Greek Heroes VS. Modern Day Heroes

-
Image
Heroes in Greek/Anglo-Saxon (I am grouping the types of historical literature we have read) writing are very obvious and much of ancient Greek literature involves a central hero or a supernatural story. In modern day English, however, the plots are less often mythical and more realistic. Since each person has a different definition for heroism, modern day heroism literature can be more varied. Ancient Greek writing is very often far-fetched, however. There are many similarities and differences between the two types of writing, but first I will run through the most significant differences. In Greek mythology, heroes were often religious figures, like demigods, while modern day writing focuses more on ordinary people. This could be because authors nowadays want the readers to be able to relate with the heroes in their stories. Greek writing had heroes that had the power to protect or destroy the people depending on prevailing circumstances. In contrast, modern day heroes are acknowledg...
Read more

Effects of a Positive Mental Attitude on the Student Populace -Jack Maraziti

-
Image
Many kids, including teens, often second guess themselves either in school or on the sports field.  But what good comes out of that?  Recent studies prove that when people have a positive mental attitude toward a topic, it will increase the effectiveness of the brain and probability of success. In 2018, Stanford School of Medicine conducted a study with 240 students ages seven to ten.  47 students were analyzed using an MRI while doing basic math.  The results were outstanding!  Students who had a positive attitude toward the subject of Math were found to have a more active hippocampus.  The hippocampus is a part of the brain responsible for memory and learning.  Lang Chen, leading author of the study stated, "...the unique contribution of positive attitude to math achievement is as large as the contribution from IQ."  This reveals that when students are have a positive attitude toward a subject in school, they are more likely to retain informat...
Read more

My Brother by Elizabeth Hailey DeGasperis

-
Image
          When I contemplate what is most important in my life, my mind is drawn to my 21-year-old brother, Tom. There are not enough words in the English language I could use to describe what he means to me. I cannot imagine the past fifteen years of my life without him. Allow me to start from the beginning.           Even when I was an infant, he never failed to take me out of my crib, strap me in my high chair, and cook scrambled eggs for us (at the tender age of six). He did this so my mother could catch up on sleep in the mornings and take care of me however he could. I only wish I could return the favour in some way. Though we have always been tight, we used to fight frequently as all siblings do. As immature children, we viewed every ordeal as monumental. The apocalypse would occur if either of us decided to give the other access to the TV remote or the pogo sticks for five minutes. However, we would always make-up in the end and...
Read more