For our first week of school, we all knew one thing. It was so unbelievably hot outside. Every single day of the first week of school, it was well over 90 and even 100 degrees. With that heat came cancellations, push backs, and lots of complaining.
At least for students, it was quite an awful week to start school, but what about for the teachers? Mrs. Tarrant-Oliphant (T.O.), an English teacher here at Liberty, gave her input on the heat during our first week of school.
“I feel like it makes you extra tired,” T.O. said. “I usually like being outside, but I didn’t even want to be outside to walk my dogs.”
Students have expressed feeling the same way about the heat. Junior Cody McMullen, who is also quarterback for our football team, gave his opinion on the heat.
“The heat affected practice for me. So, instead of practicing after school, we practice before school from 5 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. It’s made me very sluggish,” McMullen said. Games also had to be moved due to the heat. The varsity football game at Timberland was moved from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. as well as our varsity soccer game being moved from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
When asked if they prefer the usual heat or the cold, T.O. replied, “I prefer the cold. I like a cold day when you can put on more layers to warm yourself up. I feel like you can never get yourself cool on a hot day.”
For the first week, some even had to change their first day outfits to accompany the heat.
“I was going to wear pants and a long sleeve shirt for the first day, but I had to change that to shorts and a short sleeve shirt,” McMullen said.
Luckily, the heat didn’t affect Liberty as badly as some schools. Other schools in the district had to release early for their first week because of air conditioning issues that arose.
For those who drive to school too, leaving their car out in the sweltering heat was an issue.
“I have leather seats, so by the end of the day, they are super hot and feel like they’re burning your legs,” T.O. said. McMullen also agreed with his statement saying, “The seats were really hot because I have black leather seats.”
With heat, it is a good idea to cool down your car first before getting in so if you do have leather seats, they can be cool enough to not burn your legs and focus on driving.
Even with the heat being unbearable and awful, did anything good come from it?
“Lots of pool days, can’t go wrong with that,” McMullen said. The pool is a great way to cool off as well as hanging out with friends to have a good time. T.O. also replied, “It’s nice to sometimes just have a reason to chill out and relax inside. The heat gave me a reason to not have to add more to my plate.”
The heat gave many a reason to just stay inside, stay cool, and even just be productive in their own home without the need to go out. Now in September, the summer heat has come to an end. Many wish for it to stay that way, while others wish it would come back. Either way, the first week of school and the major heatwave has passed.
