As we once experienced the year shift from summer to autumn with leaves falling and crisp air in our hometowns scattered across the country and world, LA offers a different impression of fall. For those experiencing autumn in Southern California for the first — or last — time, it can bring a seasonal transition in a new style.
Payton O’Hara (senior) – Hometown: Carbondale, Colorado
According to O’Hara, the change in time and weather contributes to the collective feeling of how school and those around her feel in contrast to spring semesters.
“Academically, fall is always a tougher season for everyone,” O’Hara said. “I feel like spring here is progressively going up, […] it’s getting warmer and energy gets higher.”
O’Hara said that, having experienced fall in Western Colorado growing up, it doesn’t feel like fall in LA until much later in the year.
“Fall at home, it feels like it lasts for a second […] because the leaves are so gorgeous,” O’Hara said. “It feels weird talking about it, because I haven’t actually experienced it [for] a long time now, but I’m always missing home a lot in the fall time, especially when the leaves are really beautiful.”
Mia Howe (sophomore) – Hometown: Cleveland, Ohio
Howe said once the days start to get cooler in LA, she feels she can truly enjoy the beauty of campus.
“Right now it’s the perfect temperature, I’m looking at such beautiful greenery,” Howe said. “My favorite place, the green grass right down by the library and the church, it’s so beautiful. The trees shade the area so well — it really just feels like fall to me.”
According to Howe, she has adapted new fall traditions since coming to Occidental.
“I started getting a London fog from the Green Bean,” Howe said. “It always feels like a nice, cool, deep, fall vibe.”
Weston Harkey (junior) – Hometown: Fairfield, Connecticut
Harkey said his primary difference between New England and LA fall is the ability to spend more time outside as the months progress into winter.
“I always see falls as brown leaves, colder weather, pumpkins, and that’s less often found in LA,” Harkey said. “Fall in New England gets cold — you want to stay inside. I feel like being outside is so important to enjoying your time wherever you are. I think Los Angeles, and specifically Oxy, makes it much easier to be outside.”
According to Harkey, he thinks of fall in terms of spending time with family and people he loves.
“Although we don’t have, per se, our immediate family always available to us at school, you build these beautiful connections with so many people that […] can last for a lifetime,” Harkey said. “You have family here, and I love spending time with family, whatever that means.”
Sebastian Gardea (junior) – Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Gardea said he has spent every fall since he was born in LA, except for travel.
“I do not have a strong fall experience here,” Gardea said. “I’ve been to other places around the country [during] fall, and they have much stronger ‘fall feelings.’”
According to Gardea, he has noticed a bold change in LA weather since his childhood.
“With climate change, Los Angeles is getting warmer and warmer each fall,” Gardea said. “I start[ed] noticing when I was in high school […] There will be a heat wave that will really mess up the fall feeling.”
Gardea said, growing up, his family would still try to compensate for the lack of autumn weather with festive traditions.
“My family is big [on] pumpkin bread and pumpkin pancake[s],” Gardea said. “When I was younger, all the fall kind of cartoons were playing. My family is really big on decorating their house. All the fall decorations would come out. We used to go to pumpkin patches […] [and] go out of LA proper for it.”
Elina Shalaev (junior) – Hometown: San Diego, California
Shalaev said before coming to Occidental, she lived in San Diego, and also grew up in Finland for a reasonable portion of her childhood. According to Shalaev, it would already be snowing during the fall months in Finland.
“I put on my Russian hat called a Ushanka, because it’s really cold,” Shalaev said. “Then me and my family go long distance skiing, hit the like snowy fields or walk around and enjoy each other’s company.”
Shalaev said the contrast between Scandinavian and Californian autumns makes her grateful for the sunshine, even for the lack of weather change.
“I am just reminded whenever I go [to Finland] […] it’s dark all the time, it can be a little disheartening,” Shalaev said. “It’s nice to be grateful for the sun and be somewhere where there’s maybe [fewer] seasons, but a more stable climate.”
Lauren Harper (sophomore) – Hometown: Bronx, New York, New York
Harper said the temperature change throughout the day in LA was particularly shocking, in comparison to New York, which would stay the same throughout the day.
“I handle the cold better being here,” Harper said. “I would not realize how cold it would get [at night]. I wouldn’t have a sweater; I would just have to suffer. Now, when I go home [to New York], it’s 50 degrees, and I can handle it.”
Harper said she notices the absence of seasonal colors in the trees.
“There are pictures that I have of the trees on the Upper West Side [with] these vibrant oranges and yellows — it’s not as much here,” Harper said. “I really appreciate those pictures […] I’m gonna go home for Thanksgiving, it’s still gonna be fall, so I get to […] drink it in.”
Contact Lucinda Toft at ltoft@oxy.edu
