There is something extraordinary about the sense of smell. A single scent does more than reach our noses — it awakens emotions and memories, even ones we thought were long forgotten. It is like pressing play on an old videotape hidden away in a drawer, suddenly bringing the past back into vivid motion. Often, in the midst of an ordinary day, a familiar scent can stop you in your tracks and send you traveling through time.
October, as autumn settles deeply into 2025, is perhaps the season richest in scent. The damp earth after an autumn rain recalls carefree days at your grandmother’s countryside home. The warm, robust scent of espresso carries you back to childhood dreams of becoming an adult. The sharp tang of ginkgo trees instantly revives memories of running home from school with friends, noses pinched, laughter trailing behind you. Even the freshly printed pages of the Sungkyun Times carry their own distinctive scent — another tape for the drawer, waiting to be replayed someday.
Scent holds this quiet magic: it revives the past and gives it breath once again. As this autumn unfolds, may a familiar scent lead you back to your own hidden moments, and may those rediscovered memories feel like a gift from time itself.