Daylight saving time. Oh, how I miss it already.

If you haven’t noticed, we changed our clocks once again early Sunday morning. It was wonderful—everyone got an extra hour of sleep. That’s the only thing I’ve found to like about daylight saving time ending this year.

I should preface the rest of the piece with this: I’m from Shelbyville, Kentucky. It’s fully in Eastern Standard Time, an hour ahead of Bowling Green time. In the summer, it’s light outside until 9:00 or 9:30 p.m. In the winter after the time changes, it still doesn’t get dark until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. 

I’ve been totally out of sorts moving to Bowling Green and adjusting to the time. Now, however, I’m back to square one. Less than square one, I like to think. The sun should not be starting to go down at 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon, and it shouldn’t be dark before 5:00 p.m. I’m so not used to it.

During daylight savings time, the sun is out for so much longer. My days feel so much more productive. I’m able to do more activities outside and enjoy the warmer weather. It’s easier for me to feel like I’m being productive when there’s daylight.

When the sun goes down, it has always signaled to me that the day is almost over and that I can start winding down. It means that it’s almost dinner time, with bedtime coming a few hours later.

I’ve always been much more of a morning person, anyway. I love getting up at a reasonable hour and having the day to be able to do not only what I need to do, but what I want to do, as well. Whether that be running errands, reading outside with a good book, playing disc golf with my brother or doing anything else I enjoy, it’s easier and more enjoyable to do when the sun is out.

Now, however, the sun has left the skies halfway through my afternoon! I’m used to having so much more time to do whatever I want. I’m not able to enjoy my time outside and spend time with loved ones outdoors doing activities we all enjoy.

I will concede that, as the weather cools down, I won’t be outside as much. However, that doesn’t keep me from enjoying the outdoors as much as I can.

Opportunities to do more on campus will naturally become fewer. Outdoor intramurals, studying outside and many others can’t be done anymore because of the lack of sunlight. Already I’ve found that I have classes where I enter it with plenty of sunlight but leave it not long before it sets for the day.

I’ve also found myself waking up before my alarm each day since the time has changed, and that hasn’t been particularly enjoyable. Consistently waking up before 7:00 p.m. and not having a class until 9:30 p.m. some days isn’t pleasant, that’s for sure. However, that’s just a personal gripe about daylight saving time ending. That should pass (hopefully).

All in all, I miss daylight saving time already. It means the weather is getting cold, the days are getting short and the world is starting to go inside. After a year of quarantine and isolation last year and a year of uncertainty this year, I wasn’t looking forward to it. We’ll be okay.

I know it can be hard when the time changes, struggling to stay motivated and on top of things. I’ve learned that already. That too, shall pass. We’ve only got two full weeks of classes left and finals week. After that, we can go home and spend time with our families and enjoy a stress-free time away. You’ve earned it. 

You’re almost there. You’re awesome. Go you.

Commentary writer Price Wilborn can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @pricewilborn.