The weather is changing here at Chatham. The leaves are starting to become brown and it is becoming cool enough for sweats. This change of weather also signifies the ending of another season.

Our summer vacations have come to a close, and we have been in school for four weeks. We have to put away our sun screen and pull out the books. Baseball season is coming to a close, and football has started back up. People pack Anderson Dining Hall on Sunday afternoons ready to watch their beloved teams.

It’s a hard concept for us students to grasp, no more beach vacations or late night adventures with friends. Late nights will be spent in the library with our heads in our books surrounded by cups of coffee. Soon enough the grounds of campus will be covered with brownish yellow leaves and barren trees.

For most students, especially for first-years, it will be a rough time. Having to adjust to living in a different city and getting acclimated to the harsh winters of Pittsburgh is just one of the many weather hardships. By December time, Chatham’s campus will be covered in snow and ice. Snow balls will fly across campus, and lunch trays will be used for sledding. The winter will bring temperatures below zero which is, for some of us, a huge change. Before you know it, Winter Break will be here. That means lights and wreaths will decorate the homes of Squirrel Hill.

After we shovel our way out of winter, we head into spring. Trees will grow their leaves back, and the snow will be all melted. School will be winding down, and the temperature will get a little warmer. Shorts and shirts will be worn, and occasionally flip flops will be seen, signifying summer is close.

With the change from winter to spring, comes the idea of finals. The last few weeks of school will be spent inside, heads in books just like the beginning of school. The late nights of studying and coffee drinking will be well worth it, for summer will be right around the corner.

Once that last exam is finished, we will rejoice that school will be done for the summer. We’ll go back home and reminisce about the good times and bad from the past year. Then we are able to unwind with our family and friends and enjoy the sun shine for a few months.

Then, about this time next year, we come back to do it all over again.