Veronica Wernicke is a freshman at UNCW majoring in Communication Studies and is a staff writer for The Seahawk. The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. Veronica Wernicke may be found on Twitter @itsveronica98. All suggestions and inquires may be sent via email to [email protected]

Fall is my favorite time of the year for many reasons — and pumpkin spice is not one of them. Besides my distaste for most everything pumpkin spice scented and flavored, I love everything else about fall. I love the falling leaves and their changing of colors, the coolness in the air, Halloween, being able to wear cute scarves and leggings — yes, I know, leggings are basic but, man, they are comfortable — visiting pumpkin patches, visiting apple orchards and, of course, watching the special, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” I also get to eat as much candy corn, apple cider donuts and drink as much apple cider as I please.

Halloween is also one of my favorite holidays — aside from Christmas — and I love dressing up in fun costumes and passing out candy each year. Plus, who doesn’t love the 13 Nights of Halloween special on Freeform? I live for that countdown of awesome Halloween movies! In case you were wondering, yes, I still do watch all the Disney Channel Halloween movies like “Halloweentown,” because those movies are classic, and if you don’t like them you can excuse yourself now.

Fall is also the time to be around family, which is another bonus — at least from my perspective. Nothing makes me happier than sitting around the table, talking and making lasting memories with family members. Another great day of family time is Thanksgiving when I get to surround myself with my two favorite “F” words: family and food. Just thinking about being able to chow down on stuffing and both apple and pumpkin pie — the only good pumpkin flavored item aside from pumpkin rolls — soon brings a smile to my face. Oh, and just in case you thought I forgot, of course I watch the “Thanksgiving Charlie Brown” special. Alas, Thanksgiving would not be Thanksgiving without my ceremonial watching of the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special.

You can’t bring up fall traditions without mentioning the crazed Black Friday. Black Friday is another favorite fall activity because, I mean, who doesn’t love pushing the crazy person next to you to grab the last Xbox or whatever highly anticipated item it is that year? Now, since I’m from Chicago, Black Fridays can get really fun, so as I gear up for my first Wilmington Black Friday, I hope that they bring their A game, because it won’t be fun if there are only five people at Target and Walmart. The only downside is waiting in those ungodly long lines. It’s pretty crazy to think that we won’t wait in lines that long the rest of the year, but when it comes to Black Friday, we do because we’ve got to have that one hot-ticket item. I usually just buy movies, so I’m probably the craziest for waiting in those winding lines.

As far as the weather goes, I’m happy that the slight cooling of fall in Wilmington will be as “cold” as it gets and that I won’t have to worry about winter rearing it’s ugly face around the corner. So I can get away from this humidity that constantly coats Wilmington and still get to wear my cute fall attire without having to bring out my heavy winter coats and gloves. Thank you, South.

Fall also has the downside of midterms for some students — which thankfully none of my professors this semester are giving. This can be a stressful time for students that do have midterms, but in the midst of studying I hope you all don’t forget to enjoy the simple things that come with fall. Stressing over a few midterms isn’t worth missing out on all the fall traditions. So to those students: Good luck and don’t forget to have fun as well.

As much as I’ll miss my weekend trips to downtown Chicago and basking in the city’s fall glory, I’m looking forward to my first North Carolina fall and seeing what festivals or events take place, as well as getting to see all the leaves change in the beautiful backdrop of the South. So happy fall, now let’s all kick back, relax and go jump in a pile of leaves.