overcoming the..heat

When school starts again, the excitement and the energy is very high on Gallaudet campus. However there may be one environmental factor that I never liked and that is; the humidity, my friend.

Before Gallaudet College existed, the acres of land used to be a swamp. Yes, a swamp. In case if you never noticed the mosquitoes are always around until the midweek of September. Until Gallaudet College started to build, and the whole building expanded even bigger when Gallaudet College became a University and–it no longer resembles a swamp. And now we are continuing our renovations and new projects on campus, we are expecting a new residence hall in the spring of 2012! Anyways, the former climate of land now underpins the reason why DC has horrible humidity.

I always find myself dreading for the heat, because I’m from the west coast where it is nice and dry. But within my four years at Gallaudet, I have learned how to adopt to DC’s weather. I find it useful when I keep myself hydrated. You guys may see me bringing my trusty friend aka Palibou (don’t ask abt the name, long story and yes it involves Alaskan Caribou and Sarah Palin) it’s a REI refillable 32 ounces water bottle. The more hydrated you are, the less likely you’ll feel exhausted by afternoon after sticking up with the humidity. Whenever you’re going to a class, always bring a thin coat because Gallaudet University buildings are usually a bit chilly from the A/C.

I’m also a jogger myself in the mornings, and I do not recommend anyone running in the day where the heat is at its peak. It is dangerous and people do get heat strokes from that. It is best to do your running regime in the morning until 10 am the latest. And on the weekends try to have an activity that is water-related, it cools you down. I usually go to Dupont Circle and sit on the water fountain, a lot of people does this too! It is very cool and refreshing while you do your people-watching pleasure!

Before you know it, the fall season will begin and the humidity will be long gone! And when you pass your full-year mark, the more immune you will be from suffering the heat.

EDIT: One of my professor shared me this link- DC is not built on a swamp (oops!) it’s a myth apparently but this is a good read! http://www.welovedc.com/2009/07/07/dc-mythbusting-built-on-a-swamp/

and this shows that my readers do not only involve students, transfer students, new students, or stalkers–it includes my professors! The perks of Gallaudet- it’s a smaller school where everyone knows everyone on any level from personal to professional level. You’ll sense that after a semester at Gallaudet, really.  It’s something I’ll miss after I graduate. So that’s also the reason why I love the great northwestern (Anchorage) its so small and local- you bump into your tattoo artists every fridays at a gathering.