Notes From an Average Girl | Unpopular opinion: I don’t like fall

I don’t like fall. Don’t get me wrong, I love to look out my window and see warm tones fall from the trees. It’s beautiful, but what I don’t like is that the leaves aren’t the only thing dying — so is my will to get out of bed.

Fall is nice from a distance. I like fall when I can think about it happening outside while I sit on my couch eating pumpkin-shaped Reeses and watching Gilmore Girls. I don’t like fall when I have to walk to class while the wind is attacking me and I’m barely avoiding tripping over fallen branches. 

My loathing of fall comes from my love for summer. Fall signifies the end of the best season. I’ll never understand how some people prefer the feeling of piercing cold to the overwhelming warmth of the sun. 

It’s not like I’m some Floridian who can’t handle the cold. I’m from New Jersey, and we’re no strangers to snow. Considering my diet consists of chocolate and coffee, you’d think fall would be my sanctuary — but what can I say? I’m a summer girl through and through. 

The beach, tanning, no classes — that is all summer has to offer. What does fall have to offer? Pumpkins that rot in a week but take hours to carve, pumpkin spice lattes that are overly sweet and a holiday dedicated to eating turkey, the driest meat there is.

Not to mention the way fall is overly romanticized. If I have to watch one more TikTok of a white girl jumping around in a circle at a pumpkin patch with “Stick Season” by Noah Kahan playing in the background, I may scream. 

I am not a morning person. I designed my schedule so that I don’t have to wake up any earlier than 9:30. In the spring and summer, the sounds of birds chirping outside my window make it a little easier to refuse the urge to hit the snooze button. I’m not Cinderella — the birds don’t help me get ready in the morning, but their voices are a reminder of the beauty of the outdoors. In the fall, I find myself hitting snooze until I have five minutes before I need to leave for class. If the birds don’t have to experience Pittsburgh’s cold weather, why do I?

Not being a morning person means I love the evening. So for me, the most depressing part of fall is leaving my last class at 5:15 when the sun has already begun to set. As my free time is just beginning, the universe is telling me it’s time for bed. Summer is a bit more supportive of my night owl tendencies.

You may think I’m being dramatic, but ask me how I feel about winter. As I count down the days until summer — 224 — you can find me hibernating under a giant pile of blankets.