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Fall progresses, achieves optimism
 Britt Johnsen -- Staff Essay
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The cold winds are whirring and people are wearing their hats and winter coats. We are growing closer and closer to that time of year again: winter.
Fall seems to last about as long as a blink of an eye. In that blink, one can maybe have Halloween without snow, and squeeze in a few jacketless walks around campus. But as soon as you can open your eyes, the snow is on the ground and midterm-moods are present.
Winter, however, doesn’t necessarily mean just midterms and snow. It means many things.
Winter signifies the end of another semester, which brings us all closer to graduation. And as much as many of us, including myself, love college, there’s at least one point in the semester where we all feel as if we are going to have a brainpower meltdown.
Winter also brings those moments we can all breathe a sigh of relief when we have those wonderful, though short, breaks in homework where we can kick back and relax. I look forward to sleep, regular eating habits and a significantly decreased level in stress. I am not complaining, but honestly, and I think I can speak for many when i say this: college life, or life in general, can be very stressful.
However, there are plenty of positive opportunities to take full advantage of this season, stress or no stress.
No matter how stressful this semester gets, I am taking full advantage of this season,it being an extraordinary autumn for music. In between working at Sam Goody, writing here at the Chronicle and taking 14 credits, I will be soaking up many fall days by driving to Minneapolis to catch concerts by Sleater Kinney, Karate, Apples in Stereo, Melt Banana, Doug Martsch and the Flaming Lips. It’s a great season for concerts and records for the indie rock crowd, and there’s no doubt that music is the ultimate tool for relaxation and, quite frankly, sanity in general.
It is also a great season to build confidence. I recently joined the Society of Professional Journalists, which is a fraternity-turned-club for all individuals interested in journalism. I will be meeting many wonderful people and having many opportunities to build my resume. It’s exciting to actually be going somewhere and making progress, as I see many other students (and adults) struggling with their life, not really knowing their place in the world. I don’t know everything, and I don’t know exactly where I will be in five years. But this fall has brought me closer to knowing where I am and where I will be. It’s a very exciting revelation.
Confidence is another attribute being built all over the country. As a country, we are all still suffering from the repercussions of Sept. 11. Each day that goes by, each support group that is formed, each day we get closer to “fighting the war on terrorism,” we build strength and confidence in ourselves and each other. Even if we don’t have the solution to this war, we are at least closer to understanding the situation.
Also, this season is a season of discovery. Each day we embark on a new adventure. Ideas are sparked in classes and books. Friendships and connections are formed each day while walking to class, going to a bar or hanging out in a dorm room. New experiences are had as people and ideas come together to form individual situations and occurrences. Autumn brings all of that by showing us brand new faces around campus and new minds to show us perspectives no one has seen.
So as fall progresses, I am going to take advantage of the remainder of autumn. It will be nice to have a break once winter presents itself (or rather, the end of the semester), but fall does provide much optimism. Cold, whirring winds and all, I hope everyone will be able to enjoy this autumn whole-heartedly.
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