Go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief because you're finally done with finals (or in my case, you're still procrastinating on that last paper that's due tomorrow morning, but hey, you're almost there)! Now, it's time to go back to your hometown, put your feet up, and enjoy the fact that you don't have any more deadlines for the next few weeks. It might feel a little bittersweet, since you're leaving all of your new friends, but if you're anything like me, you're probably super excited about all of the wonderful things that winter break has to offer you. Here are just a few of the things that I'm looking forward to:
1. Family time.
I have to admit, missing my family was the hardest part of going to college and I'm ready for a few weeks of good old family time. Even if that time will more than likely consist of my dad trying to make cool jokes (that are never as funny as he thinks they are), arguing with my mom over my curfew (because I'm an adult, now, and do what I want), and fighting my younger siblings for control of the remote.
2. Home cooked meals.
My meal plan sure has treated me good over the past few months, but eating junk like pizza and hamburgers every day is just incomparable to sitting down at the table and eating an actual meal with the family. If you're lucky, your mom will even make sure that she fixes all of your favorite meals at least once before you go back to school.
3. Catching up with your high school friends.
Personally, I talk to most of my high school friends almost every day (because I hate letting Snapchat streaks die) but some things are just too hard to fit in a Snapchat and trying to type out a long story in a text message is just too inconvenient.
4. Sleeping whenever you want.
What is sleep? This is a question that I've asked myself constantly over the past semester whenever I found myself wide awake and playing Uno at four in the morning with the people who live on my floor. There's always something fun going on when you live in a dorm with a bunch of teenagers and if you add that to all of the studying, going to class, and eating that college kids are required to do there isn't a lot of time for sleeping other than the occasional power nap between classes.
5. Not having to struggle over your laundry.
I don't know about everyone else, but my dorm only has one washing machine and one dryer per floor, which would be OK, except for the fact that our one washing machine was recently out of order for a while. This meant that I had to carry my clothes basket up the stairs and check each floor until I found an empty washing machine that I could use. Fun tip: If you wait and do your laundry at two in the morning, almost every washing machine is empty and you can do more than one load of laundry at a time. (Or just don't do any laundry and take it all home for your mom to wash every time you visit her.)
6. That one local restaurant that can't be replaced.
Tacos are my favorite food ,and there is a Mexican restaurant in my hometown that has stolen my heart. I've tried almost every taco joint in my college town and nothing ever compares, so I always make sure to eat at my favorite place at least a couple of times whenever I'm back home.
7. Getting babied.
Now that I'm a visitor instead of a full time resident, as my dad likes to say, my name is no longer on the list of chores that I was responsible for in high school. After spending the past few months doing my own laundry, washing my own dishes, and cleaning the bathroom myself, it's nice to see my parents or younger siblings doing these things for me.
8. Money.
As a freshman in college, my wallet is pretty much empty all the time, thanks to tuition payments and miscellaneous items. My current bank account balance is actually $4.75, and I would probably overdraw my account if I tried to buy a meal at McDonald's, but being back home changes everything. "Here, take this ten and go buy yourself something to eat," is probably one of the most glorious things that I've heard my parents say since I got back.
9. Being back in your old room.
Even though my brother has basically taken over my space and my bedroom floor is littered with his socks and dirty T-shirts, there's nothing better than coming home to the room that I lived in before college. Even though it looks a lot emptier because most of my stuff is in my dorm, it's still familiar and I still love it.
10. Getting to relax.
For the first time in months, I don't have a planner full of deadlines to procrastinate on, and nothing makes me more excited than the idea of relaxing for a few weeks.
