As I sit and write this article, the temperature high for the day is 57°F. The low is 44°F. The sun now sets at 6:15 p.m. My jeans are seeing the light of day more so than they have in months past, and my sleeveless shirts are probably collecting dust in my dresser. Safe to say, it’s getting colder out there. As a first-year student, I have never experienced the winter months in upstate New York, and, as a Connecticut native, I can only anticipate them being ‘worse’ than I currently know. Also as a Connecticut native, I have never experienced so many people truly pronouncing the “t” in “winter,” but that’s beside the point.
I previously used the term “worse” to describe these chilly, desolate winter months of the bleak upstate New York, but, in my opinion, the colder, the better! Objectively, being too cold is far better than being too hot. I have said this for as long as I can remember, and I will die on this hill, even if dying on that hill gives me hypothermia. I just love everything about the cooler weather: wearing big coats, sitting by a fireplace, enjoying cozy environments during the immensely superior fall/winter holidays—what’s not to love? Unfortunately, I’ve recently been able to answer my own question. What’s not to love about the cooler weather is the adoption of abnormally outrageous behaviors that follow, which I’ve lovingly dubbed the “fall frenzy.”
The term “loving” could not be further from the truth, however. I hate the fall frenzy. Whether it’s the presence of midterms or the sudden looming of the holiday season, everyone habitually acts a little…unusual during this time of year, and it drives me absolutely insane having to live through it. This is not to say that I am completely immune to the effects of the fall frenzy—oh, I definitely have my moments. However, I’ve already begun to observe some of these phenomena in my life and my various circles, so I thought I’d give you some of my examples for you to determine if you or a loved one are a victim of the treacherous fall frenzy. Without further ado, let’s dive in!
The first stage of the fall frenzy is a general sadness. This one I’ve experienced far too much in the past weeks, from taking it personally when Reamer runs out of my daily Cinnamon Toast Crunch or my chai tea bags, to yet again witnessing my “resting sad face” come out in the worst circumstances. While a lot of this article is a bit satirical, this correlation between the fall season, and increased levels of sadness or even depression has actually been backed by science and statistics. Writing for Psychology Today, Dr. Barbara Blatchley explains that the changes in season can affect everything from our attention span to blood pressure to general cognitive processes, due to alterations in natural light and internal rhythms. While environmental changes could be an explanation for this general decrease in mood, it could also be attributed to the rise of back-to-school and exam season that tends to upset many young people this time of year. Needless to say, the fall season and its cooler weather can be a sad time for anyone.
The next aspect of the fall frenzy that simply needs to be talked about is its giving people the inability to do what needs to be done. Fall and midterm season is the perfect time for procrastination—trust me, the post-exam burnout has me not wanting to do anything for days on end. However, this hesitancy isn’t just limited to academics. Many social situations and relationships find themselves severely unattended during the colder months, as many people of the Internet have dubbed this time “breakup season.” Let’s just say I have several friends back home who, in my humble opinion, need to either experience a miracle of communication…or they need to break it off. But you didn’t hear that from me.
The last major stage of the fall frenzy, again able to be explained by actual science, is the overwhelming desire to sleep an excessive amount. As previously mentioned, Dr. Blatchley attributes these autumnal changes in routine to seasonal misalignments with our circadian and ultradian rhythms. Essentially, because there is less light during the fall and winter months, we want to sleep more than we’re used to/more than is necessary. This, combined with the colder weather and cozier atmosphere, creates this universal desire to sleep in longer and more often this time of year. While I’m all for sleep, and while I definitely support getting a little extra rest on a day off or a weekend day, I do have a problem with it, as I do everything.
My grievances with sleeping in come from a totally selfish, absolute me-problem, which, of course, is that I can’t sleep in. For as long as I can remember, I’ve never been able to sleep in on any given weekend, even if there’s nothing else to do at all that day. Instead, I’ve been forced to be somewhat productive every weekend morning of my life, doing homework or running a load of laundry at the crack of dawn on my Saturdays and Sundays. While some might think this added productivity is a blessing, experiencing it as a college kid is most definitely a curse. This past Saturday, I woke up at 7 a.m., as I do nearly every day of my life. I had to wait four hours until anyone I knew was awake, and willing to plan our day’s activities. Yes, there were things to occupy my time with, but, God, I wish I could have been sleeping for all of those four hours. Of course, this is a major inconvenience to me, and I find myself immensely bored on my weekend days while everyone else enjoys their blissful slumber.
Thus, in conclusion, let’s stop sleeping on the weekend—and, while we’re at it, let’s all do what needs to be done and stop being sad in the fall, too! These are all easy enough to fix, surely. It’s definitely not called “fall frenzy” because it’s uncontrollable or anything…
