Every year, there comes a time when the trees start to look a little more red and the smell of bonfires takes over neighborhoods. When sweatshirts start to make a comeback, and holiday decorations show up impossibly early. The pumpkin spice craze takes over, and suddenly, the most debated topic is Halloween plans, even when it should probably be that test scheduled for Monday. Then and only then is it truly fall, a time in which you very well may have a test in every class, but end up at FNL anyway.
For some brave Dubs, fall means paying hard-earned money just to be scared because sometimes the worst haunted houses create the best memories. While being jumped at by monsters and clowns may not be everyone’s ideal Friday night, it certainly was for sophomores Grace Peterson and Ela Johnson, who harnessed their fears this fall at Netherworld, a haunted house in Stone Mountain. Of all available attractions, both agreed that the clowns were the most terrifying, especially the scare actors. “I was literally shaking when we walked out of the clown house,” Peterson said. “I don’t know why I paid to do that.”
For many others, fall means one thing and one thing only: football. Whether college or NFL, Dawgs or Jackets, one thing is for sure, and that’s the fact that TVs are booked at least until winter. Fridays are spent under the lights, Saturdays for the SEC, and Sundays for the pros. No exceptions. At least according to senior Jackson Pechter. For Pechter, Saturdays would be meaningless if it weren’t for the Dawgs. Because what’s the point if you aren’t throwing on a jersey and acting like you actually play? “I spend my entire week looking forward to Saturday,” he said. “It’s seriously my only motivation.”
Of course, fall wouldn’t be fall if it weren’t for its very own celebrity squash the pumpkin. Responsible for the annual pumpkin spice craze that takes over coffee shops across the country and for the most frustrating, messy tradition of all time, carving Jack o’ lanterns. Every celebrity has to start somewhere, and for the pumpkin, that somewhere is their very own patch. Freshman Noa Pitts found herself taking part in the fun at a pumpkin patch this fall, where she participated in all things pumpkin, even taking a few home to enjoy. “They had so many different activities,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many pumpkins before in my entire life.”
Clearly, fall isn’t all early mornings and endless assignments. It’s also nights spent under stadium lights, mornings with a warm coffee in hand, and laughs with friends. Busy doesn’t just mean bad, and fall doesn’t just mean chilly nights and bare trees. Nights spent in a haunted house, at the stadium, or in a pumpkin patch are busy, filled with memories that will last a lifetime or at least until that next quiz.
