Our expectations vs reality
Mengting Chang
Staff Writer
Fall has arrived again with the much-belated sweater weather. Expectations borne from autumns past have brought disappointment to this fall of 2020. While some despise this mercurial season, it is not a question that autumn remains the favorite of many.
Fall-Enthusiast, Jasmine Truong (12), agrees that fall is a transitioning season.
She explains, “It’s like that transitioning stage to a fresh beginning. So there’s summer and then there’s a transitional stage, and that transitional stage is like fall and winter ”
Fall bears the responsibility of transitioning from Summer to Winter. In the past, fall’s signature cold climate has arrived more quickly than that of this year. According to Accuweather, the average highs in October 2019 were around 59 degrees, while the average highs in October of this year were around 78 degrees. The precursory Octobers set a certain precedent for autumn that has not been met this year. Students express their disappointment in the slow onset of the esteemed, “Sweater Weather.”
Chisom Chukwuma (12) discusses their frustration, “we were supposed to be cold then, not now”. They further explain, “autumn is supposed to be sunny skies, but chilly weather… I’ve been seeing irregularities. Last month, October, the first weeks [were] very hot which is surprising for fall.”
With the temperature staying disproportionally high, Lakshmi Potturu (10) expresses their unenthusiastic patience for the fall.
“I don’t really even see any trees change color that much even… It’s just not really that much of a fall mood.”
This normal “Sweater Weather” season has been out of the ordinary for students at American. However, this heat is favored by some. Not all people are going to like fall at its norm. For these students though, with the persistent unchanging, humid weather, some may change their perspective on fall.
Kalyan Sindhu (12) exemplifies her dislike for fall.
“I don’t like the fact that autumn does not have good traits of both Summer and Winter. On the good Summer days, it’s not too hot… you can go out, have fun. Winter days, it’s cold, have a jacket on, you’re good, you can feel warm in your own cozy bubble. But autumn, one day you’re raining, one day you’re not, and I’m like, what am I supposed to wear? I don’t even go out but I’m cold.“
Sindhu further explains her thoughts on the October heatwaves.
“It made me feel happy for all the time that the heat lasted, especially in the morning… When I wake up, I literally stand in front of the heater for like 2 minutes.”
The turbulent chilling weather of fall can make it difficult to become acclimated, but perhaps the warm memories of autumns past would bring consolation. It’s often that specific memories stick from our childhood, more so than others. These memories often leave us with an opinionated conclusion about what we like or dislike; in this case, autumn.
For example, Wang is able to see the beauty in fall, even now.
“Call me crazy, but I’ve also always liked fall because it kinda signifies going back to school, but not going back to school and being super stressed out yet. It’s kind of nice and meeting your friends again.”
Truong adds on, “I much more prefer the cozying up in a sweater and a hoodie and fuzzy socks, over short shorts and a tank top that you feel like you’re gonna suffocate in.”
However, not everyone holds autumn to great regards.
Chukwuma reprises an old memory, “…after school, my mom told me to come over for my appointment at one of the clinics at San Leandro… My mom’s supposed to pick me up at three afterwards, but she thought maybe, I could just take the bus home… I waited three hours for the bus… The one that showed up just passed in front of me… I had to wait an extra three hours, and I got on by eight o’clock. And they were so angry at me… And I didn’t get to go trick or treating with my cousin as we planned, and I’ll always remember fall for that because I was in the cold.”
Despite this, past memories of experiences are important whether or not they’re good or bad because they’re something one remembers. One honors the past by remembering them, because they were once a part of us.
As Wang states, “Appreciate the fall season y’know? I feel like it’s a very underrated season.”
Eagle Era 