Fatigued of writing words of advice, instruction and indeed, prescription, I thought it might be a nice change to write something celebratory for a change.

If all goes according to plan, this will be my last autumn at SMU as an undergraduate.  Perhaps this knowledge along with the cooler weather in the air has turned me a bit nostalgic.  With this joy in mind, let us celebrate fall semester on campus.   By the way, I was joking about the cooler weather.  There is no such thing as autumn temperatures in Texas.

Fall cannot be mentioned without football.  Although the sport is not my absolute favorite part about this time of year, it is nice to run into Peruna and enjoy the free food and libations on the Boulevard.  It is good to see school spirit steadily increasing and to realize, a bit jealously, that the SMU undergraduate experience will continue to improve long after the class of 2011 is gone.

Then there is the lovely array of new faces.  There is something about a pack of unschooled and eager first-years that really livens up the place.  It is with gentle guidance that we seniors watch all of you both triumph and fail in ever-more creative ways.  Just try to minimize the vomiting in trashcans.

Of course, one cannot forget academics. There is something about fall-semester classes that always seem to be a bit more exotic than those of the spring.  Is it the extra day or two we have to sink our teeth into the material?  Or perhaps it is the ability to read outside which is, even in Texas, not the best of ideas in February?

The leftover summer tans will begin to fade before we know it. 

Schoolwork and reading will pile up by mid-semester, and there will be little time left to enjoy this place, whose shaded avenues make even a walk in 90-degree weather bearable and whose skylarking squirrels always make that walk entertaining.  There is always a cat to pet and a free golf-cart ride to take after midnight, not to mention the best views of the city from the top of the parking garages.

So go forth and celebrate autumn.  Although there are no sweaters or falling leaves, it is nevertheless fun.

Rebecca Quinn is a senior art history, Spanish and French triple major. She can be reached for comment at [email protected].