October is the month of pumpkins, sweaters and ghosts, but is also the national month celebrating something we don’t always associate fall and colder weather with: country music.

According to a 2012 poll carried out by the NPD Group, a global market research company, country music is now America’s favorite music genre, beating out classic rock and pop. On this week’s Billboard Hot 100, country music accounts for more than 20 percent of the songs.

“I started listening to country music this past year,” junior Cecelia Wallerstedt said.  “I like it because it’s happy and reminds me of summer.”

Other students enjoy country music because they find it refreshingly different from other genres of music.

“I like country music because it tells a story, unlike other kinds of music which just talk about dumb things,” junior Isabella Wu said.

Just because summer is over, however, does not mean it is time to delete the country music playlist.

According to a study by the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, country music’s upbeat tone can help increase blood cell dilation, which in turn increases the rate of your blood flow, helping to relax your body.

English teacher Christin Nixon, who was born in the South and raised on country music, does not feel the ending of summer is a reason to switch music genres.

“I’ll probably listen to it more now, because country artists make the best holiday music,” Nixon said.