Sept. 21; the beginning of the season we call Fall, or Autumn if you’re a contrarian. But why do we love Fall so much? Everything is happy and cozy. The air is crisp and the Pumpkin-Spice lattes are back. Fall just gives you goosebumps in the best way possible and it is truly one of the most beautiful times of the year.

 In a Chatterbox survey posted on Schoology, over 100 people shared what they love about Fall. One of WHHS’ students favorite part of Fall are the leaves.

“I love the leaves on the ground and feeling the crunch under your feet,” Leah Anderson, ‘23, said. The bright green leaves are turning red, orange and yellow, turning nature into a beautiful canvas.

“My family and I love driving around seeing all the leaves on the trees,” Gaby Sherill, ‘22, said. And some of our favorite Fall memories include jumping into leaf piles and raking leaves with family.

WHHS also loves the weather. How can we not love the amazing fall weather because it is not too hot and not too cold. However, we have been experiencing the cold side of fall recently. We can get all comfy in our favorite sweaters and hoodies. But, Fall is the perfect time to experiment with clothes.

“I love going shopping and trying out new clothes in Fall,” Emma Longford, ‘20, said. It is at a time where you can be comfortable in a t-shirt, jeans, skirt, dress, sweatshirt or just about anything. It’s a great time to take some fashions risks and try out what you thought would have been too hot for the summer and too cold for the winter.

Fall is also holiday season! Thousands gathered in downtown Cincinnati for Oktoberfest this year. This was the second largest Oktoberfest behind only, Munich, Germany. And the minute Oct. 1 comes along, the bats and pumpkins are out and everybody is Halloween ready.

Halloween is so enjoyable even if you do not like anything scary. It is the only time acceptable to put on a costume and become someone or something else for a day. Just one month later, there’s Thanksgiving. Stepping outside to feel the brisk air and seeing the colorful trees knowing you are about to eat your heart out; there’s nothing better. “Turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and being with family are some of the festive parts of Thanksgiving,” Kenna Kitil, ‘23, said.

Surprisingly, according to the Huffington Post, we shouldn’t apologize for our love for fall because technically we are supposed to.

“Fall has become a temporal landmark like birthdays or significant dates that structure our perception of time,” the article says. These “landmarks” can be huge motivators. This is just a long way of saying that we feel motivated and inspired in fall because we’re conditioned from a very early age that the autumn comes with all these exciting things. And not even knowing it, fall can teach us life lessons. Watching the leaves fall from the trees can teach us how to let beautiful things go.

So what have I learned through this? I’ve learned that us crazy fall people have emotional responses over pumpkin spice and comfy sweaters. The smells, sights, and sensations of fall give us all sorts excitement, and there’s nothing better than that. So embrace it and know that there is science behind falling for fall.