1. Relationships

We're all familiar with "Summer Lovin," the catchiest, most romance-indulging anthem of the 20th century. At least once we have all had a daydream of finding the perfect summer soulmate, just like Dany Zuko and Sandy of Grease. However, unlike in the fantastical world of Rydell High, "summer lovin" tends to end abruptly as the season ends (and does not magically pick up again after a few song and dance numbers). The charm of a theoretical summer romance is that it is indeed fleeting, but real-life breakups are anything but charming. Considering the emotional toll of the stress from schoolwork and personal development, the pressure of college can be too much for some relationships, whether they be long-distance or exist on campus. There is also something about the shorter days and increasingly cooler weather that adds to fall being the prime-breakup time: research shows that serotonin and dopamine (both of which influence mood and attraction) are highest in the sunnier, warmer seasons, which explains why so many relationships fizzle out as the leaves start to fall.

2. Disenchantment of hometown

It only take a few weeks for summer vacation to lose its charm and for your hometown to feel like an incredibly lame place to be. Maybe you're working non-stop, living through the vacation posts of friends and dream Pinterest get-aways, itching for school to begin so you have some sort of stimulation in your life. Or maybe you don't work, or work less frequently, and are just simply bored with the absence of structure in your routine. Either way, you're anxious to get back to your friends and activities from college. Once you make it back, it seems all-too easy to start missing all the fall events that are starting to go on at home, like festivals, football games, and family events. Although you may be completely relieved and pumped to be back at school and are not feeling full-fledged homesick, it may start to seem like home was pretty cool after all.

3. Being unplugged

We tend to keep up with our personal social media or at least scroll through funny memes during the summertime, but fall is when we really start to get plugged in. Can you imagine what college would be like if you weren't constantly checking your email or your professor's class dashboard? You'd miss out of dozens of updates, notices, campus events, and appointments. Plus, now you have much more of a reason to check Facebook and Instagram to see what your friends and family are up to away from school. Maybe you use social media to reach out to your lab partner, or email to communicate the week's activities and meeting times to your on-campus club. However you incorporate technology into your life, it kicks up a notch during the fall.

4. Casual breathing

Hello seasonal allergies. Some of us experience summer allergies, but symptoms of fall allergies always seem to hit like a brick, affecting people across campus. We have all experienced the annoyance of sniffling and coughing uncontrollably throughout the classes, or at least observed someone else struggle through them. But fall allergies are not the only cause of these symptoms: fall is also college flu season, often brought on by the sharing of germs throughout campus. As summer ends, so does the effortless action of converting oxygen into carbon dioxide, a process we all take for granted until it's too late.

5. Spontaneity Summertime

Summer is the perfect season to plan a spontaneous visit to the aquarium, trip to a nearby lake, or even just a midnight walk. It is the time to explore new places, stumbleupon once-in-a-lifetime experiences, take risks, and fall in love at first sight. These types of experiences can happen at any time during summer, but are much more likely to be planned out when fall comes around. That concert you and your friends have been talking about? The date and ticket information is written down in your planner along with the rest of your responsibilities. That cute person in your class whom you've been dying to talk to? You've thoroughly investigated them, via internet-stalking and friend-interviewing, before even thinking about approaching them outside of class. With the onset of a new school year, our lives become increasingly more structured. Because of this, the spontaneity of summertime comes to an end, and we begin to seek more of a plan in life rather than seeing where the path takes us.