Our area has been experiencing lots of rain and cold weather the past couple of months. With inconsistent rain also comes inconsistent sunshine as well. Lots of Highlanders have been pulling out their winter clothes and finally getting a chance to wear them. Either a rain jacket, wind breaker, or boots have been students’ best friends to battle these weather adaptations. Lots of people have been discussing atmospheric rivers as they have brought about two feet of rain in some parts of California. These showers have already killed more people than wildfires over the past two years. Typically, our city and campus receives an average of 17 inches of rain per year. This leaves the question of how much this year’s unusual amount of rain will affect that average?

The majority of the new greenery seen around our school surrounds the field, but it’s seen in other locations as well. The Royal ‘R’ placed near the football field is typically seen as just a dirt letter. With a little rain it has transformed to an unfamiliar, beautiful green logo for the home of the Highlanders. The small sloped hills surrounding our field also look like a whole new environment due to the amount of grass and plants that have popped up since the rain. Additionally, tons of weeds have started sprouting from a bunch of random places like near benches, cracks in the sidewalks, and even where the walls and floor meet.

Senior Fryda Salguero said, “I love our campus after the rain because of the amount of greenery.” She continued on discussing the rainy conditions and said, “Our campus just ends up looking so much better and alive.” However, with a high school comes teenage drivers and with rain comes risky conditions. Salguero also said, “I hate driving in the rain because no one at this school can drive a car.” It’s astonishing how much can grow in such a short span of time, especially in Southern California.  

Not only did the showers bring plants and shrubs, but mud as well. In the main quad, sand has been added on top of the patches of dirt to prevent puddling. The recently opened area outside the seven buildings near the stadium parking lot gate also tends to acquire mud and swampy conditions. Typically this spot doesn’t stay muddy forever and dries up pretty fast. Overall, we see our campus transform with every drop of rain received. The hills of our own valley and school turned green in what seemed to be right before our eyes. Thank you to the rain and the atmospheric river that hit our area the past few weeks for providing us greenery.