There is a sort of drudgery that students and teachers must push through the week after spring break. Although the break itself is intended to be refreshing, it can be difficult to get back into the groove of balancing work and school life. Luckily for the JBU community, SEA brought a moment of joy and grounding on April 2, with their “Bring Spring” event.
The Coordinator of Student Success, Rob Rostoni, shared the details about the beginnings of the event, which was started many years ago.
“I love plants, so I got the idea of having a ‘bring spring’ celebration event with food and plants. You know, let students pick out what they want, plant them, name them and take them back to their room,” Rostoni said.
Strategically planned to catch the crowd after chapel, students were welcomed by welcoming music. Tables were set outside of the Walker Student Center with plants, pots and an array of goodies and drinks for students to grab and go. Herbs, flowering plants, cacti and succulents were available for students to grab and plant in their pots. Little tags were placed around, naming the plants and describing their preferred care and sunlight exposure, and depending on the dorm room layout, some plants would thrive better than others in certain students’ rooms.
The tables filled up fast, and some were uncertain of what the crowd was forming for.
“I had no idea what I was walking to… I honestly just heard music, and I heard people talking, and I saw people coming over. I was like, Ooh I see plants,” freshman Lucy Ward said.
Like Ward, the already large group caught the attention of anyone walking by, magnetizing more participants. For the first 30 minutes, there wasn’t a slow moment.
“In the first year that we had it, we had hundreds of students come. So, that’s when I partnered with SEA, and they really kind of made it much bigger,” Rostoni said.
The initial post-chapel crowd wiped out the succulents, cacti and most of the herbs. Less than an hour in, the flowering plants and sage were the only plants remaining. According to Rostoni, the plants had been grown and stored in JBU’s greenhouse. Vining nasturtium, marigold and poppies were some of the flowering plants left to choose from. Although they had no flowers yet, with care and time, they would bring a spot of colorful joy to whatever space they were placed in.
“This year, we decided to do a little more with herbs and teas, in addition to the flowers. We had a lot of succulents as well and cacti; those went really quickly. But it’s just a fun thing to have for students, to have a little life in their room when they’re headed towards exams. You know, all that good stuff,” Rosonti said.
As students fall back into their rhythms and routines, their new plant companions will hopefully be a source of joy and a reminder of the sweet memories made at “Bring Spring.”
Photo by Hope Brittenham
