Thoughts Surrounding Groundhog’s Day

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The most unexpected weather forecaster, a groundhog, decided that this year’s spring will come early.

In a tradition lasting decades, a groundhog in Punxsutawney, PA, named Punxsutawney Phil decides whether there will be an early spring or late winter. On Feb. 2 each year, Phil crawls out of his burrow and either sees his shadow, telling for a long winter, or doesn’t see his shadow, telling for an early spring.

Phil did not see his shadow on Friday, predicting an early spring.

One Penn State senior majoring in psychology, Jaclyn Schwartz, is happy about the early spring because she hates the cold.

She and her roommates even contemplated driving to Punxsutawney Friday morning to celebrate, but once realizing they would have to wake up at 5 a.m. they changed their minds.

For Schwartz, the holiday is silly and fun: “I don’t think it’s necessarily factually but I feel like the weather isn’t super accurate anyways.”

On the other hand, Madeline Fleischmann, a freshman majoring in psychology, is going to miss the cold weather.

“I’m from Chicago and our winters are really bad and I love it, so I wish we had a more snowy winter, but I am excited for spring to come,” Fleischmann said.

She said it’s a fun activity to wake up in the morning to see what the groundhog predicted.

Although she doesn’t formally celebrate, she said: “I have friends that dress in all brown and my friend at Illinois Champaign University there school does a really big thing for Groundhog’s Day. They all wake up at 5 a.m. and they all celebrate it.”

Natalie Simone is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email nvs5790@psu.edu.