Sept. 22 marked the autumnal equinox – more commonly known as the first day of fall. However, it certainly didn’t feel like fall. The sun blazed, and the temperature hit a high of 80 degrees. Students could be spotted sunbathing on Sheehan Beach and playing sports on Austin Field. It felt a lot more like summertime.

Indeed, remnants of summer still linger these days. The weather hasn’t fully changed over yet. Students can still walk across campus decked out in T-shirts, shorts and flip-flops. Classes may have started nearly a month ago, but to an extent, the carefree summer atmosphere remains.

And yet, the sun has started setting earlier, and the evenings have gotten much cooler. Soon enough, chillier winds will blow in, becoming a constant presence. The leaves on the trees will begin to turn to red, orange, brown and yellow until they eventually fall to the ground in piles to be raked. T-shirts will reluctantly have to be traded in for sweatshirts.

This transitory time of the year might seem somewhat bleak and even depressing at first for a college student in the Northeast. Without a doubt, it’s difficult to say goodbye to the summer and welcome the fall with completely open arms.

However, as the season settles in, one will notice that fall at Villanova is actually a time to look forward to for a number of reasons.

For starters, our campus is alive and thriving. With events like the STRIDES Run, Homecoming Weekend and Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, Villanova is buzzing with energy and excitement.

Additionally, the weather isn’t quite harsh yet. From intramural flag football to Club Ultimate, students continue to enjoy outdoor recreation. Snow won’t appear until December at the earliest, so the fields are still intact.

Furthermore, the sports world is anything but boring thanks to the NFL, the World Series and the start of the college basketball frenzy – a Villanova tradition.

But perhaps what is most noticeable about Villanova in the fall is that the campus transforms into an aesthetic wonder. Vivid images of walking through the Grotto on past fall days, marveling at the brilliantly colored trees surrounding you, materialize right in front of your eyes. Here, one can truly appreciate the beauty of our campus.

Other enjoyable features of fall are the two major holidays that occur right in the middle of it: Halloween and Thanksgiving.

At Villanova, Halloween parties and events are often the highlight of the season. As college students, we’re certainly not too old to dress up, eat candy and tell ghost stories. Halloween is a Villanova favorite, so it’s worth it to be on campus for.

On the other hand, when Thanksgiving rolls along, most students leave Villanova and return to family, friends and food back home. It’s a time of togetherness, thankfulness and of course, delicious home-cooked, turkey-filled, coma-inducing meals.

Speaking of nourishment, the fall season has much to offer your plate. Apple cider, pumpkin pie and stuffing seem to fly off the shelves at the supermarket, while pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks become wildly popular. Fall just wouldn’t be the same without these key edible ingredients.

To miss out on what the fall has to offer would be to neglect a vital part of the year. While it is rough having making the leap from one season to the next (particularly when that last season is summer), it’s a far easier process when you allow the pros of the season to outweigh the initial cons – a philosophy that can be applied to any period of change.

In short, embrace the fall, Villanova. Better yet – fall into it.

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Brigid Black is a senior English and French major from Brooklyn, N.Y. She can be reached at [email protected].