What Fall Means At Florida State

Now sure, I love wearing a bathing suit, relaxing on the beach, and laying out in the sun as much as the next person.

But being an out of state student there is one thing I do wish I could change: Florida’s endless summer.

When school begins I’ve gotten used to a sort of shift that transitions everything into fall. But that shift does not exist in Florida.          

When I began my first year of college I was accustomed to late September being when the weather starts to cool down, the leaves slowly turn from green to orange, and orange to red. You start to wear light layers in warm autumn colors, and drink hot coffee outside in the cool air. 

Of course, none of that happens in Florida. These are all things I missed my first year of college. I found myself surprised by the never-ending heat, people wearing shorts and tank tops well into October, and the fact that if I ever tried to drink hot coffee outside I’d probably melt. What I found even more surprising was that no one seemed to notice how strange that weather was. Everyone still seemed really into the fall season, drinking pumpkin spice lattes and decorating for Halloween while simultaneously making plans to go to the pool later. 

And that’s when I realized that Florida has no fall. Florida weather goes something like this: It’s insanely hot outside until about late November, when you go to sleep one night and wake up with mildly cold weather. This lasts until early spring, when again seemingly overnight, the weather becomes crazy hot again. And that’s it. That’s all the transition into seasons that Florida gets. True Floridian’s seem to love this, as many of them shy away from any weather that requires sleeves and closed toed shoes. And for those of us from out-of-state, we get used to it.          

Now on my second year of college, my perspective has changed. Florida may not have fall weather, but it definitely has a fall. I still look forward to going home for a visit to get a brief taste of my traditional fall because I know that when I get back to school, all of my sweaters will be hidden deep in the back of my closet, years of buying the perfect decorative scarves will have been a waste, and my only boots that will ever see daylight are combats. 

But I’m okay with it. Fall means something different here and something different to me entirely now. As a college student I no longer define the season by the weather. Now when I think of fall I think of war chants every Saturday, garnet and gold being the perfect fall colors for any outfit, pomping and pledging. Fall to me now means stocking up on Halloween costumes because you’ll be celebrating all week, and it means watching sorority girls hunt for littles, and it's a signal to go crazy crafting.          

So sure I still wish I could wear stylish fall outfits and not sweat when I walk to class in October, but how can I complain about Florida when I have a killer tan year round?