Introduction
It was another cloudy day at the University of Nowhere. In fact, this was the 30th straight day of bad weather. It is also a fact that lack of sunshine can affect a person’s mental health. The lack of Vitamin D can lower a person’s serotonin, which can cause seasonal depression. This plays a major role in why places with mostly cloudy and rainy weather have the highest suicide rates in the country. But back to the story and the university where the story takes place. There was a group of 3 students who used to be very close, but due to one’s mental health, another’s girlfriend stealing them from the group, and another’s heavy school work load, they haven’t seen each other for a couple of weeks. And when they saw each other last, it was quick small talk where coincidentally they all saw each other on the campus quad in between walking to class. It was a 5 minute interaction that led the group yearning for more interaction.
On the walks to their next classes, each of them reminisced on the good times they shared their freshman year at college, when times were simpler, where there was less school work and a lot more free time. They all wanted the simple and free time back, but what they wanted most was to rekindle the friendship that was created during their freshman year. This group of friends was comprised of George, John, and Sophie. George met John on the first night of college, as they lived on the same floor, and they instantly clicked, bonding over their passion for music and geography. On that first night, the dorm building held a meeting for everyone living in that building. That’s where George and John met Sophie for the first time, and what eventually led to the formation of a great trio of young adults finding their way in their first year at college.
To bring you back to speed, I’ll start with background information on each character.
George grew up in sunny California, where he had a history of suffering from mild depression. George decided to go to the University of Nowhere, which happened to be halfway across the country. It doesn’t help that where he goes to school, there’s a good chance each winter that the weather will be cloudy for months on end. This is the worst time of year for George, because as mentioned before, if there’s less sunlight exposure for someone, they’ll have lower levels of serotonin, which can lead to seasonal depression. George is currently suffering from this, making it hard for him to get out of bed in the morning, much less interact with old friends. George valued seeing his friends the most out of the three, for the short period of time, even if it was for only 5 minutes.
John grew up in Chicago, where he dated a high school sweetheart for the entirety of high school. John and his girlfriend broke up after graduation, but their feelings for each other never subsided, and there were always talks of getting back together. The ex-couple stayed in contact with each other throughout their freshman year at separate colleges. During the summer after freshman year, they eventually got back together, and John’s girlfriend decided to transfer to the University of Nowhere. During their sophomore year at college, at first they were attached at the hip. This sparked the separation in John’s group of friends. He started to have less time to hang out with George and Sophie, which eventually led to the demise of the friend group. John’s girlfriend recently broke up with him, and seeing George and Sophie was one of the best things to happen to him in weeks. He’s been really sad, and it’s hard for him to move on, and he can’t stop whatever he’s doing in school to deal with his problems, because life goes on and he has to maintain his grades.
Sophie grew up in Nowhere, in an impoverished area where good grades due to an amazing work ethic, gained her a full scholarship at the University of Nowhere. Because of her good grades in high school, she was placed in all advanced classes in college. To keep her scholarship she has to maintain at least a 3.8 GPA. This leaves no room for slacking in school, and it doesn’t help that she takes the hardest classes possible. However, she wouldn’t have gotten to this point in her life with slacking at all, so she knows what it takes to maintain that GPA and achieve greatness in life after college. But, boy, sometimes she wishes she didn’t take this many classes. Her stress levels are through the roof, causing anxiety. But, she willing to sacrifice her mental health for an A. She was glad, but not super excited to see her old friends. It’s not that she didn’t miss her friends, it’s just that due to being so busy with school, she doesn’t have time to be excited. She doesn’t really have time at all, to be honest.
The unsurprisingly cloudy came to a close as the sky got darker. John was sitting in his dorm room, still distraught over the breakup with his girlfriend. He missed her so much and thought it would be a good idea to go to her Instagram, and look at the pictures of them together. Unfortunately, when he got to her page, he found that she deleted all of the pictures of the two of them. This destroyed John. He was devastated. He asked himself, “is she really over me that fast, or is she still into me but can’t look at photos of us because it hurts too much?”. Unfortunately for John, it’s usually the former, but being the optimistic guy he is, he didn’t give much attention to that. Frustratingly, John put his phone to sleep, and stared up at his ceiling. John then remembered seeing his old friends on campus earlier in the day.
Ignition
He was so lonely that he started a group chat with George and Sophie:
John: Hey guys, I’m really glad I saw you earlier.
George: Likewise, it’s been a while!
30 minutes later…
Sophie: Sorry guys, I just got out of my biology lab. I’m so happy I got to see you guys earlier, it made my day. I wish we could have talked for a little bit longer.
John: No worries, me too. Hey I was wondering something.
George: What’s that?
John: Did you guys know Mary and I broke up?
Sophie: What!? I’m so sorry to hear. Are you okay?
George: Nah man, sorry to hear that.
John: I’m alright. It’s been really tough on me. I haven’t fully processed it yet and I’ve been lonely lately. I’m just really glad I saw you guys earlier. It made me forget about the breakup, and remember all of our good times together freshman year.
Sophie: Aw that’s sweet. If you need someone to talk to, I’m here.
George: Same here, man.
John: Thank you guys, I really appreciate it. Speaking of our good times together. Would you guys want to go on the trails again tomorrow, like the good old times?
George: I would love to, but it’s probably going to be cloudy again and I’m not really up for it as of right now.
Sophie: That would be fun, but I have such a busy day tomorrow.
John: Oh alright, no worries. I’ll talk to you guys soon. If you guys find time for the hike, please let me know
That’s where their group chat ended for the night. John was a little disappointed, but he was glad that he got to reconnect further with his friends.
All three of their alarms rang the next morning, and it was time to start another day at the University of Nowhere. It was hard for George to get out of bed this morning, after reaching over to lift his blinds from his bed. Just seeing the grey color of the sky brought down his mood, even though he was 5 minutes into starting his day. He knew he couldn’t stay in bed all day, because that would be a waste of the grand amount of money his family pays for his education. Sophie started another long day of classes. She got to her first class, calc 2. She had taken a really hard exam for this class a week earlier, and was expecting to get the results back today. The professor waited until the end of the class to hand back the results. Sophie received hers and she was dumbfounded to see she got a 71/100 on the exam. This was the first time she ever received a C on an exam. She studied really hard for this one, like every exam. She chalked it up to being mentally exhausted from working too hard. She knew she needed a break and whipped out her phone.
Catalyst
To John and George:
Sophie: I just did terrible on an exam. School is stressing me out, I need a break. I’m willing to skip the rest of my classes today to go on a hike. I can get notes from my friends in those classes.
John: Awesome! I’m still down. How about you, George?
Right as George received these two messages, the sun started to come out. He experienced a boost in moral, and his school day was just ending.
George: You know what, count me in.
John: Great, this is going to be so fun! Let’s meet at the trail entrance in 30 minutes.
The Spark
The group began their journey on the trails, which led to a long straight narrow path completely covered in dirt. After making it to the end of the of narrow dirt path, they ended up at a large field. After gracing their eyes upon the vast field, a sense of calmness covered the students. After crossing the giant field, the group made it back into the woods where they would walk through the woods until they reached a place they had never imagined would be possible, just an hour outside of campus. In the center of this area stood a very large tree with a single bench in front of it. 30 feet in front of that bench stood several rows of trees that looked like a maze. They all questioned never seeing this place before during their hikes freshman year. The area had a mystic feeling to it. They were all happy, walking around the maze of trees, leaving their negative days behind back at the University. Once the group of students saw this they ran towards the maze and chased each other around in full euphoria.
The sun started to set, and the group was tired of walking, so they all sat down on the bench aforementioned. John said, “thank you guys for doing this with me. I haven’t been this happy in weeks”. George, with faint grimace, said “you’re telling me man, i’ve been so down lately.” Both John and Sophie glanced over quickly, with puzzled looks on their faces. “Really!?”, they both said. “Yeah, these long stretches of cloudy weather make me depressed. I knew seeing the sun was a sign. I missed you guys, and being out here reminded me of what makes me happy; hanging out with you guys, and being in nature. We’re not as close as we used to be and the weather as of recent never made me want to trek out here.” Sophie retorted, “wow, I had no idea you go through that George. But I feel you, my workload puts a lot of pressure on me, and sometimes I succumb to depression. Getting that bad grade on the exam today put me over the edge. I needed a break. I was sacrificing my mental health for my schoolwork, and that’s not okay.” John and George agreed with Sophie.
John said, “I have a good idea. Let’s build a pit and create a campfire. We can put it out and leave before it gets too dark out.” George and Sophie agreed, and started to look for kindling for the fire.
They successfully built the fire, hung out and reminisced on the good old days, before eventually putting out the fire and heading back to campus after their fun day on the trails.
