Around October, it is easy to fall into a slump: the summer break glow has dwindled, the excitement of the beginning of the year is over, your first rounds of tests have finished. You are either coasting through your classes or have been slaughtered by your professors. You are now we are headed into midterms, drained and feeling bored. The days are running together, with no real excitement on campus.

It's an overwhelmingly humdrum time, where everyone is dragging their feet, starting to arrive to class late, and wondering why we came back to school in the first place. Christmas seems too far away, and summer seems to be a distant memory.

But there is a reason to keep your spirits high. A reason to keep your grades from falling. A glimpse of hope in this season of the lull: it is AUTUMN. Fall is the opening ceremony of the loveliest time of the year. It is the beginning of decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and, eventually, Christmas (!!).

The first big holiday we get to celebrate since the Fourth of July happens just at the end of this month! The red and yellow leaves will be dancing around you as you sprint to class with a pumpkin spice chai latte in your hand (yea add chai flavoring to your PSL, it is scientifically proven to make it a thousand times better), not to mention you will be able to sprint to said classes without arriving in a puddle of sweat thanks to the chilly fall air. You get to bundle up in cozy sweaters and warm flannels, and the occasional pair of $2 Target socks with pumpkins on them. Think of the pumpkin carving! The bonfires! The apple picking! The Halloweentown Marathons!

There is so much to be excited for. So push through these midterms. Push through these mundane days of tedious work, because soon we will all be in an autumnal wonderland, followed, of course, by a winter wonderland. It is all so close.

So light a pumpkin scented candle, and hang in there.