The air is crisp and the leaves are an array of reds, oranges and browns; pumpkins and cornucopias decorate front doorsteps, and students are enjoying their favorite activities once again. It’s beginning to look like fall.

One of the best aspects of fall is its two holidays: Halloween and Thanksgiving. Halloween brings in a spooky, chilling feeling of fall filled with watching scary movies with friends and enjoying large amounts of candy. Thanksgiving provides the comforting feeling of quality family time and appreciation for life as well as the joy of making and eating delicious foods.

“I like Thanksgiving because it’s the time that I get to spend time with family that I don’t normally see often,” freshman Kirsten Hartmann said. “There’s a bunch of food that I like, and I really like the theme of Thanksgiving.”

Everyone has a favorite activity in the fall that they can’t wait to enjoy, whether it is pumpkin carving with family, driving around with the windows down, or just being outside and enjoying the weather getting cooler. Some families enjoy fall traditions that make the season even more special.

“We do the Danca dance, which is for the Catholic church,” senior Juana Aguilar said. “It’s a dance to honor the saints, and we do it from October to the end of December.”

Fall isn’t just filled with family and friend activities but also some favorite activities in school. Football and volleyball games, tennis tournaments, cross country meets, choir concerts and region qualifiers, pep rallies, cheer and band competitions, and the school’s theater production of Moana this year are all school events that bring the fall semester to life.

“The most exciting part of Moana is the music,” senior Heron Del Fierro said. “We all are getting the singing down pretty well, and we have a lot of good actors this year that are perfect for their roles. Everything is going better than we expected.”

Every season has special memories that we are reminded of every time the season starts to come about. As we come into this fall, memories of old childhood traditions start to shift their way through minds bringing nostalgia and comfort to the season.

“Every single time that we would rake the leaves, all of my siblings would have to do it together so then as a reward once we finished, we got to jump in the piles,” sophomore Madi Reeh said. “Then we would always go swimming in our pool once it got super, super cold.”

As Texans, we are all aware that fall can be just as warm as summer, but we can’t help but get excited when there is a possibility of cold weather.

“I like cold weather because after summer it’s still so hot, but then cold weather comes, and I can finally wear jackets and be comfortable and warm inside,” senior Khristian Torres said. “I just like the feeling of being nice and warm.”

The ongoing traditions, the memories and getting to connect with friends and family is what makes fall so special. It’s the season of change, relaxation and most importantly, connection.

“I love the leaves changing to rich colors of red and yellow. The smell of the air is filled with people’s fresh cooking of pies and meats,” junior Jack Stephens said. “ The temperature begins to cool, and I can drive with the windows down. I love that I can sit outside without being eaten by mosquitoes and being fried by the sun.”