Editor’s Note: 4/20 content is a part of The Sun’s joke issue and contains exaggerated and factually inaccurate information.
After a week of warm, 80 degree weather, Cornell’s campus glows with blossoming trees and plants. However, the dramatic changes in weather pose serious threats to the plants on campus, many of which are now just blooming for the spring season.
What can Cornell Students do to protect the growing plants from the freezing weather? Students can put blankets down, give the trees a big hug or even build big forts surrounding the leaves and roots. Alternatively, students may be able to keep the plants alive by celebrating 4/20. In other words, they can light it up! While students may not be outside because of the weather, the warm smoke that radiates from joints on campus will act as a warm blanket that just might allow the plants to survive.
In fact, many students around campus are willing to help these plant species by going outside and lighting one. Sto Nerfurlife ’26, studying medicinal plants, is leading an initiative this 4/20 by “light[ing] one up for every tree we wish to save,” focusing specifically on preserving the magnolia trees outside of Uris Library. Further, Nerfurlife explains that the best way to lengthen the lifespan of these trees is to “hug and support” them after your smoke break. This supports the tree both “physically and emotionally.”
These plant species are the only thing giving Cornell students life right now; between prelims and finals, many students are ready to quit. The blooming trees allow students to stop and remember that Cornell isn't that bad. Students like Nerfurlife aim to continue uplifting the community by smoking outside near trees because “if the trees stop blooming, nobody would [care] about their classes anymore.”
Other students on campus are more hesitant to smoke outside when the weather will be sub 40 degrees. Notana Coldday ’27, another lover of nature, reconciles her choice to remain indoors instead of outside because “it’s just one day.” While the preservation of the plants is important, it is also important for people to stay warm while participating in their recreational activities, something you cannot do when you are outdoors in the cold hugging a tree.
Through the week of 4/20, countless Cornell students will be around campus enjoying their lives before the rest of their prelims and finals — whether it be celebrating outdoors with the trees or inside when the RA’s are gone. But while rooms fill with smoke, the trees outdoors will begin to die again. Ithaca’s weather may never be normal, but students can work to make sure that the irregular weather doesn't negatively affect our aesthetic college experience.
Mary Juana is a freshman at Cornell dedicated to staying outside, mentally and physically. She can be reached at maryjuana@cornellsun.com.
4/20 content is a part of The Sun’s joke issue and contains exaggerated and factually inaccurate information.
