With the clocks turning back and unofficially marking the end of summer and the beginning of a hoard of complaints from staff and students alike, it may seem that the longer darker nights of winter are nothing to be grateful for. Whilst darkness creeps upon us as early as 5pm leaving Towers as the main light source to navigating your way around campus, the early blackout might seem like a negative thing but really it’s not all too bad.
The first massive advantage of the clocks changing is that we’re all gaining an extra hour of sleep (or an extra hour of your night out if you think about it that way) and let’s face it, in uni we can all benefit from that extra hour. It might not seem like much but it can make a huge difference. More sleep results in feeling fresher in the mornings and more alert during the whole day (so you have no excuse for sleeping through your 9ams anymore). On top of that, darkness outside means warmth inside. Getting into your warm bed after a long day of lectures is so much more satisfying when it’s dark outside, and makes you feel like you’ve had a really productive day. Instead of resenting the shorter days, embrace them by making a the ultimate hot drink and settling down in bed with a film to end your day.
Most importantly, the longer darker nights are marking the official countdown to Christmas with the festive period slowly creeping up on us. The colder weather brings hopes of a white Christmas and let’s face it, warm summer nights are great but Christmas is so much better.
Lydia Kah-Pavlou
