It's now the middle of August. I have bought my books for the semester and started to pack to go back to school. This is a bittersweet time for me, as it is for many college students out there. Soon we will leave our homes and the warm summer will follow. We will head off to school and it will be fall. Where did summer go? Three months should have taken longer than that, right?

Summer was great, right? Full of fun times on vacation, days suntanning at the beach and late nights with friends. Yeah, sure, I had to work, but it was summer! I was free from professors, textbooks and late-night dates with the library to finish the paper I should have started two weeks ago. Now, those very things that I was free from are coming back. Of course, I can't complain too much, college is great and there are so many wonderful things that the beginning of school brings.

The bitter: No more fun times on vacation, days tanning at the beach or late nights with friends from home.

The sweet: You get to have late nights with the friends at school, whom you have missed during the summer months.

The bitter: You will have to do school work again. Blah! Who likes writing 12-page papers? No one. Who likes spending five hours in the library working on a group project when you could be watching "Game of Thrones"? No one. But it is inevitable, just like it is inevitable that your favorite character is going to eventually die on "Game of Thrones."

The sweet: You will meet new people to help you get through those long nights writing that paper you should have started two weeks ago. Some of these people may become your lifelong friends. These people will help you get through many tough times that are sure to happen throughout your college experience.

The bitter: The warmth of summer will be gone and all of the wonderful things that accompany it, like swimming in the lake, tanning on the beach, vacations with the family, watching the stars at night with a lover (or your cat), bonfires and s'mores.

The sweet: Fall is coming. This means two of my favorite holidays, Halloween and Thanksgiving, are just around the corner. Now, I know it is a little early to be getting excited about pumpkin-flavored things, but I just can't help myself. Nothing is better than being in a comfy sweatshirt, drinking a warm pumpkin-flavored drink and watching the beautiful, colored leaves fall to the ground and crunch beneath your feet as you walk to class. Not even the warm sun on the beach can compete with that (in my opinion at least).

Regardless of the bitter, there is still the sweet. All of the fun of summer will end, but the festivities of fall will begin. And if the fall season is not for you, just remember that summer will come once again.

"Summer ends, and autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night." - Hal Borland