falling in love with october by Audrey C. '24

we fell in love in october

that’s why i love fall

looking at the stars

admiring from afar

(to properly credit “we fell in love in october” by girl in red as the reference for this blog’s title)

Between the climate-change-aggravated heat of summer and the depressingly long winter that numbs both fingers and souls alike, we only get a few short weeks of fall. It’s so beautiful though. I love this time of the year when trees take on the color of sunlight and fire, blue skies blow friendly breezes, and bears get really really fat. 

White Mountains foliage ft. Sierra '24

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While I’ve always enjoyed fall, I’ve never felt so much joy from a season, a mere period of time defined by weather patterns, until this fall. Maybe it’s because this is only the second fall I’ve spent in a place with real seasons. Or that every other club event has been offering free cider donuts to lure in a special breed of raccoons called MIT students. 

As fallen leaves start to blanket sidewalks, I’m reminded that a different kind of season defined by academic patterns, midterm season, is also upon us. But only one of my classes this semester has midterms or even just tests of any kind. My single midterm came and went, an insignificant blip in my days of apple cider and flannel jackets. 

So the biggest reason why I’ve become such a sucker for fall? I’m the least hosed I’ve ever been! Most notably, I’ve defeated my previous record of taking 1 HASS in a semester by taking 3 HASSes⁠01 21W.762 Poetry Workshop, 21W.744 Art of Comic Writing, 9.85 Infant & Early Childhood Cognition this fall! It’s not a hot take amongst bloggers that HASSes are underrated. It’s a great change of pace to have your homework every week to be like, “write a poem! read about how babies understand numbers! comment on your classmate’s comic script about lesbian knights!” I’m happy about fulfilling my promise to myself to make more art, even if it’s through class assignments. Having fewer psets every week makes me care more about the ones I do have and perhaps even *gasp* enjoy the problem solving process. 

I love how I have free time to listen in on random seminars and take the longer route home. Most importantly, I have the headspace to just enjoy the sights and sounds of fall. There are moments where I feel like I’m living within a lofi album cover, where everything is saturated and the world feels surreal in a wonderful way. 

Perhaps this blog is giving too much Christian Girl Autumn, but I’m just proud of myself for finding childlike happiness in pretty leaves and decent weather. Enjoying fall, and enjoying life more in general, feels like a big step forward in undoing last year’s burnout. With that being said, I am hoping with my entire heart and jar of vitamin D pills that writing this blog won’t jinx my mood when the sun starts setting at 5pm. 

I recognize that if you’re a high school senior reading this, you’re probably neck deep in the spooky swamp of college apps. Or blissfully procrastinating; I’m not here to judge. With early deadlines coming up, I hope you can find time between cursing essays that refuse to magically write themselves to do things that bring you joy and relaxation. Go outside! Bake a pie! Bake a grape! Fall might look different between where you currently live and where you’ll be in a year, so try to give this fall a bit of extra love <3

shoutout to Teresa’s emotional support stick Paul! I love fall and I also love Paul