Fall, one of my favorite times of the year, has finally approached us. It is the season of wearing sweatshirts out in the crisp fall air and cuddling up inside with cozy favorite blanket. It is the season of apple cider and all things pumpkin flavored. It is a season of beauty as the leaves change and cover the ground in a thin layer of warm colors. It is the season of ghosts, vampires, zombies, and best of all, candy. As much as I love fall, it is not quite as grand at college. Fall makes me miss home where we would rake leaves as a family, run around outside with my dog, roll around in leaf piles, throw the football with my brother and watch football on TV.

At college, fall is mid-term and cram season. Professors are behind in their syllabus and seem to be speaking a thousand words per minute. At this point professors are either combining a week’s worth of work into a single class period or forgetting the work altogether for sake of covering more important concepts. In some instances, this “cram period” is prime time for additional homework. Even classes that have not mentioned assigning homework and those professors who are known for not giving homework resort to the extra out of class work to insure students get the information they ran out of time to teach.

It is college, so lots of work is expected, but in October the amount of work goes from zero to sixty within a single week. The amount of work prevents us from enjoying the beautiful weather and all the festivities that fall brings. For most of us a trip, to a haunted house or the pumpkin patch might be out of the question because we have to remain locked up in our rooms on the weekends just to stay afloat.

Rest assured, fall is also a sign that we are about half way. I was put at ease the other day when I realized we had one more week until I could turn the page on my syllabus in my French Women Writers class. That sounds crazy, but turning the page is a huge relief because, although it is only October now, November and December line the rest of the syllabus. There they are staring us right in the face. Midterms will soon be behind us and finals on the forefront. Halloween will be gone and Thanksgiving on the rise and Christmas shortly behind.