In New England, fall and spring are short – this was proven to everyone in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey this past week. This is why I tend to think of the year as split between summer and winter.

I’m not completely heartless when it comes to winter; I do think that trees look pretty when they are all covered in snow. But in my eyes, the beauty of a snowstorm is best seen through a frosted window. When it started snowing last Saturday, I didn’t leave my dorm until Sunday afternoon. I know a lot of people who favor winter over summer because they like to ski, snowboard or simply play in the snow. I, on the other hand, have never gone skiing or snowboarding, and I very rarely choose to play in the snow. I have never experienced the love for winter that other people seem to have.

After witnessing all of the different reactions to this past Saturday’s snowstorm from everyone in my building, I started thinking about how some people feel a direct and intense relationship with a particular season. Personally, I’m a summer girl. Every year, I have trouble transitioning from summer to fall. The leaves are beautiful as they change colors, but as the air becomes crisp, I am left with a feeling of emptiness. Thankfully, I am able to share this feeling with my younger sister, Paige.

Since we were young, we have traditionally worn an abundance of string bracelets during the summer. As our skin begins to get pale in the fall, we find ourselves cutting the strings and putting the bracelets aside. It’s a symbolic reminder of the end of a memory-filled season. It was weird to experience the transition this year without my sister by my side.

There are some songs that I cannot listen to in the winter without being taken back to a warm night in the middle of July. I smile even thinking about it. But what is it, really, about the summer that I like so much more than other seasons?

My preference has to do with the fact that the majority of my childhood memories are ones from the summer. When I picture myself as a 7-year-old, I’m wearing a life jacket on my uncle’s boat, or I’m digging a hole in the sand with my cousins. Most of my baby pictures are set on a beach or in a pool.

The songwriter Regina Spektor once wisely wrote, “Just because everything’s changing doesn’t mean it’s never been this way before.” I feel this speaks to the annual changing of the seasons. It is also why my friend Maria was so excited about the storm. She came to the University of Massachusetts all the way from Puerto Rico, and she had never really seen snow before.

I decided to conduct a survey and, after polling some of the people who live in my building, I found that 67 percent of them prefer summer to winter. As I interviewed my peers, I received many responses highlighting my omission of fall and spring, but, ultimately, everyone picked a side..

I still don’t understand how it is already November. I am truly starting to believe what my mom used to tell me about the passing of time, that as you get older, time seems to pass by more quickly. The fact that Thanksgiving break is coming up so soon startles me, because I still remember moving into my dorm and meeting my roommate in person for the first time as if it were yesterday.

Samara Abramson is a Collegian columnist. She can be reached at [email protected].