It is safe to say that 2016 had its ups and downs, but overall, it was a fun year. Coming back to Fairfield as a junior definitely had its perks, the biggest one being that my friend had a car, so the two of us and our other friend were able to get off campus when we wanted and go on adventures. We created a lot of memories inside of that red Volkswagen Beetle throughout the semester. Now, as the semester comes to a close and I prepare to depart for London for my spring semester abroad, here are my highlights from the past few months.

1. Going to the beach

One of the first things that my friends and I did this semester was go to the beach on Labor Day Weekend. The weather was beautiful and it was a nice escape before the school year kicked off and our professors piled on work.

2. Southside Café events

Faber Commons hosted various fun events on Saturdays throughout the semester. Events included stuffing emoji pillows, Stuff-A-Stag and an event where you could make personalized street signs.

3. Going to Colony Grill

A semester is incomplete if you don’t make the trek into town at least once to go to Colony Grill. It’s the quintessential Stag experience and did you really go to Colony if you don’t leave stuffed to the brim and never wanting to eat pizza again?

4. Going to Cape Cod

My one roommate — the same one who has the car — has a house in Cape Cod that her parents let us spend one weekend at. We had so much fun driving there, walking around during the day and stargazing at night — we even saw shooting stars!

5. Pumpkin picking

My two roommates and I decided that we wanted to go pumpkin picking this year, so we all hopped in the car and went to Jones Family Farms for some pumpkins and apple cider.

6. Halloweekend

If you know my friends and I, we are by no means “partiers,” but even we decided to become as basic as possible the Saturday before Halloween. Disclaimer: we had a blast.

7. The Mirror

This year marked my third year on The Mirror staff and I could not have picked a better staff to be a part of. There is never a dull moment with our little, eclectic group and we’ve seen each other at our best and worst — trust me, our election issue was rough.

8. Trip into New York City

Even though the trip into the city was a class requirement, it was a beautiful day and the view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from where we were in Battery Park was stunning.

9. Bringing back grandma’s meatballs and sauce

After Thanksgiving, my grandmother sent me back with her meatballs and sauce so that my roommates and I could make it one night. Sufficed to say, it was even harder to go back to Barone the next day.

10. Late night snacks

Nothing screams “college life” quite like ordering food at random hours in the night simply because there’s no snack in the apartment and we, of course, need one while we watch countless episodes of “Frasier” on Netflix.

11. Making gingerbread houses

My friends and I went to our one friend’s house a couple of weekends ago for a holiday getaway and we had a blast. We fully got into the Christmas spirit, helping to decorate her family’s tree, listening to Christmas music and making gingerbread houses.

12. Midnight Breakfast

Midnight Breakfast is the event that everyone looks forward to all year at Fairfield. Unfortunately, it underwent changes this year — can you believe that they got rid of the pancakes and gingerbread men? — and it fell short of its spectacular nature. However, it was still a fun night hanging out with friends and dancing to Christmas music on chairs as we celebrated finishing our classes for the semester.

13. Road trips

A decent chunk of the semester was spent in transit for my roommates and I, but the time passed by so quickly with fun conversation and great tunes.

What were your highlights of the Fall 2016 semester?