I have something to admit: I have never lived through changing seasons. I know, this seems crazy to everyone who has grown up further up north than I did. Where I grew up in sunny Sarasota, Fl., the two seasons are Hot and Hurricane. Therefore, being at the University of Delaware over the past few months has been a very interesting experience. These are a few things I have noticed about living in Fall:
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1. I forget about Fall. A lot
Since I grew up without seasons, colored leaves on the ground don’t really register as Fall to me but as, “Oh the trees are dying.”
2. I’m completely unprepared.
What do you wear in weather between 50 and 70? At home, anything below 70º is freezing so we pull out our sweatshirts, shorts and Uggs to keep ourselves warm. Every morning I have had to ask my roommates, “Do I wear a sweater, long sleeves or a coat?” Also, coming from a place with two weeks of winter I have never owned a scarf and my warm-ish attire consists of a few sweaters and sweatshirts. I have the extremes of snow pants, snow boots and winter coats, but nothing for moderately chilly weather.
3. Snapchat
If the weather dips below 70 degrees at home, every snapchat story or insta post immediately becomes the temperature or somebody saying “it’s finally winter!” I tend to do this here also, but I don’t think other University of Delaware students are very amused.
4. It’s a lot different than I expected
I guess I expected the change to be more sudden and for myself to be more aware of it. A few days ago, I looked up at the trees while walking back to my dorm and realized that all of the leaves had been changing and that I hadn’t really noticed the extent of it. Also, the weather is colder than I expected. People seem to be wearing a very wide range of clothes from jackets to t-shirts, which makes the Fall aesthetic a bit confusing.
5. I love it.
While I am glad to have grown up without having to deal with the weather and seasons, I do love Fall so far. The campus looks even more beautiful than normal with the myriad of new colors. I finally get to wear the sweaters that were always stuffed in the back of my closet. The best thing of all, however, is that my Fall Starbucks drink actually matches my surroundings!
Moving to Delaware has been a big change for this Floridian, but it’s cool to live through the changing seasons for once in my life.
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