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Fall, marshmallows and mug and book
Fall, marshmallows and mug and book
Photo by Alisa Anton from Unsplash
U Mich | Life > Experiences

Midwestern Fall Nostalgia and the Transition to the New Season

Maya Karasick Student Contributor, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Mich chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

“It was official, a new season had begun. After all, seasons change, so do cities. People come into your life and people go. But it’s comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you are very lucky, a plane ride away.”  

–Carrie Bradshaw, Episode 18, Season 4 of Sex and the City

As I listened to Carrie’s voiceover, watching on screen as she strolled down a beautiful block in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, dramatically picking up a leaf and twirling it along the way, I couldn’t help but wonder…. Just kidding. But seriously, Carrie’s iconic monologue in the beginning of episode 18, season 4, titled “I Heart NY”, is exactly what the start of fall feels like to me.

Although Carrie reminisced through her beloved New York City neighborhood, the nostalgic feel of my own Midwest fall just might compare. It’s the time of the year when the outside air gets a little bit more crisp as I cozy up with my favorite comfort show (take a wild guess as to what that might be), the words “pumpkin” and “spice” appear on every cafe menu, and the walk across the University of Michigan Diag suddenly consists of a lot more chunky sweaters. The changes in flavors and fashion, the subconscious switch of my daily playlist, the chiller yet refreshing walk to class, signify that my favorite season has arrived.

Looking forward to fall eases the painful end of summer. Filling my schedule with coffee shop study dates and warm sweatshirts to throw on before class replaces the end of beach days and what felt like endless free time just a month ago. 

To me, the fall season is always extremely nostalgic. In the midwest, not only is it the marked seasonal turnover, but a chance for a reset while combining the new with the old. In a simple sense, it’s adding my newly acquired song rec’s to my dependable fall playlist that continues to stand the test of time. But the outward physical cues also give me the chance to reflect on changes I want to make as I start the new school year. I think that’s part of what makes this season so nostalgic to me as a student: that start of the school year that has rolled around every fall for the past 16 years of my life. As a now junior in college, that comforting consistency weighs on me as I think about what could potentially be my last first-day-of-school next year.

Nevertheless, fall in the Midwest is full of exciting feelings that other seasons just can’t compete with. As most Midwesterners know, one must implement small celebrations to maintain stamina as the cold weather daunts us around the corner. For me, daily motivation in preparation for the cold can look like listening to new music as I walk through campus and go about my day. My fall playlist is one of my lengthiest—I don’t think any other season makes me feel music in the same way. In celebration of my (clearly) favorite time of year, here are some of the artists, albums, and songs I’ve been loving listening to:

  1. Any songs, but specifically “Better Days (feat. John Mayer)” by Zach Bryan and John Mayer (humble brag for them performing at the Big House)
  1. “Dead Man Walking” by Brent Faiyaz (a throwback, and is very Halloween-y)
  1. The Backseat Lovers, especially their When We Were Friends album. This album is a year-round staple, but songs like “Watch Your Mouth” and “Davy Crochet” hit even harder on a walk to class when the leaves are changing.
  1. The Rumours album by Fleetwood Mac. This one requires no explanation. Talk about music that makes you feel nostalgic. Listening to this album immediately takes me back to whatever I was doing this time last year, or the year before. Despite coming out in winter of 1977, it’s hard to name a better album to play in the background while cooking, walking, doing work, and generally existing during autumnal weather.
  1. The Smashing Pumpkins, specifically the Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness album. Songs on the album like “Cupid De Locke”, and “1979”, and “Galapagos” immediately bring me to the two weeks in Ann Arbor when everything is red, orange, and yellow and the sun is setting earlier. 

Happy fall, and I hope that you too can find small daily celebrations to honor the (arguably) best season of the year. 

-Maya

Maya Karasick

U Mich '27

Maya is a Psychology and Communications double major with a Spanish minor at the University of Michigan. She is from the Chicago area and is a writer for HerCampus UMich as well as a member of the Delta Gamma Xi Chapter.