Drop the books and hit the beach

Kalamazoo College has a unique holiday called DoGL. It stands for Day of Gracious Living, but most people just refer to it as the best day of spring quarter. It is simply a day off from classes and usually sports practices too. What makes it even better is that K gets charter buses and buses people to and from Lake Michigan throughout the day. Overall, DoGL is just a very relaxing and fun day for the students at K.


Photo credit: Chuck Stull, Professor of Economics

The day that DoGL is on is decided by the Student Commission. I was at practice when it was announced that it would be the following day, and as soon as I got back to campus, it was obvious everyone had heard. There were tons of people on the quad playing frisbee, throwing a football, singing, playing instruments, and just hanging out. Normally after practice, I go to dinner, and the cafeteria is full. There were barely any people in there; everybody was out celebrating. The rest of the day, everybody was out doing something fun with their friends in excitement for the following day.

Normally, students sleep in pretty late on days off, but for DoGL, students set alarms early just to get up and enjoy the beach. A good portion of the school goes out to Lake Michigan for the day and has a blast. My friends and I went out there, and it was great. The weather was beautiful. People did things like play football, volleyball, or frisbee. Others tanned all day. Some people swam, although it was pretty cold, so not that many people went swimming. It was such a fun day at the beach, but the day was not over.

As the evening approached, people headed back to campus. People spent their evenings doing a variety of things. Many went off campus and went downtown to go shopping, out to eat, or out to see a movie. Others stayed and just spent time with their friends. People were doing all kinds of activities on campus.

DoGL was definitely my favorite day of spring quarter. Upon learning that there were no classes the following day, a great feeling of not having to do homework emerged. The night before DoGL was enjoyable because everybody was relaxed and having a good time. It was such a nice break from school, and I am sure all of K lived very graciously.