RANTS

Fall weather is distastefully unpredictable. Take the last week in September, for example. One day, the forecasted high of 80 degrees was delightful while the following day merely reached above 60 degrees.

With the unpredictable weather in the fall making it nearly impossible to dress for the weather, people tend into one of two categories. You are either walking out of NASH, anxiously waiting to take off your sweater as you are hit with a heatwave because of the temperature change from earlier that morning. Or, you are spotted walking into NASH in the morning complaining that you are cold because you dressed for warmer temperatures later that day. Yes, I could just dress in layers, but we all know students don’t want to have to carry around more than they have to.

Additionally, as if getting out of bed at unruly hours wasn’t hard enough already, it’s an even more daunting task to leave your bed when you know chilled air will soon engulf you when you could stay in the comfort of your warm bed.

I envy those who are able to wake up and not have one of their first actions be either a) sneeze at least a dozen times consecutively all before even making it out of bed or b) desperately reach for the nearest box of tissues because if you don’t, you won’t be able to breathe properly. At six in the morning, when it looks as if nothing else outside my house is awake yet, I would just like to be able to eat my breakfast in peace without being rudely interrupted every ten seconds by my own sneezes.

Even if you don’t suffer from fall allergies, it doesn’t mean you are in the clear. Fall is here to remind us that cold and flu season is fast approaching. More specifically, the NASH plague will be making its annual sprint up and down the halls of NASH in just a few short weeks.

Back-to-school season is, without a doubt, my least favorite season. Unfortunately for fall, back to school is not a real season but coincidentally happens when fall is starting. In other words, this simply translates to fall being my least favorite season because going back to school gives it a bad reputation.

Ask any student and I can almost guarantee that they are not jumping up and down upon hearing the phrase “back to school.”  Almost all of the senior class will be spending a decent amount of their fall wrapping up their college searches and finalizing all their college applications to reach the quickly approaching deadlines. Senior year is said to be the best year of high school, but as I am currently feeling unsure and uneasy about my future, I certainly do not agree.

RAVES

Hoodie season. Do I need to say more? As much as I like to pinpoint all of the annoyances I find in fall, there is no denying that fall is the ideal time to show off your vast collection of hoodies, sweats, and “lazy day” outfits that we all know will quickly become staple items for the season. I’m fully aware that sweatshirts are not limited to just one season, but fall, in particular, provides the perfect opportunity to wear a hoodie. The cool (emphasis on cool and not cold) temperatures allow us to step outside without quickly regretting our choice to not just take the extra few seconds to throw on a t-shirt in exchange for a hoodie. As a bonus, the cool temperatures allow me to avoid looking like a marshmallow since a hoodie alone is not enough to protect me from the frigid air eagerly awaiting me. I challenge you to come up with a scenario more comfortable than sitting on your couch in an oversized hoodie while cocooned in an extra big blanket.

Unlike the summer and spring months where there are virtually no major holidays, fall and the early winter months have roughly four major holidays packed into a short timeframe. The holiday season kicks off with the month of October, a.k.a “spooky season”.

As much as I love the warm summer months with few worries and responsibilities, I will always look forward to the holiday season. At the start of the holiday season in October, I see four different opportunities for some of the most important and favorite things of mine to come together. Nothing sounds better to me than friends, family, getting to dress up and, most importantly, eat great food and lots of it! As a bonus, during the holiday season, I also get to spend time with a lot of my family that I rarely meet up with throughout the year.

Although fall is lacking in some categories, it always excels in having plenty of activities to take part in. For starters, “spooky season” would not be complete without the spooky element, cue the haunted houses and scary mazes. Throughout the month of October, countless mazes and haunted house attractions open up around our area as an easy and cheap activity to do with friends one night. For example, Kennywood features many “fright night”s only a quick drive away throughout the month of October, and many local corn mazes are transformed into haunted attractions.

Don’t worry, though, if you aren’t totally sold on the spooky aspect of fall, because there are still plenty of other things fall has to offer. With the start of fall also comes the start of many new shows and return of old shows, creating a wide array of things to watch in your downtime. Fall also annually opens up the door to hundreds of timeless holiday movies.

Lastly, you are never too old to grab a pal or two and head to the local pumpkin patch for an afternoon’s worth of fun.