Congratulations! If you are reading this, that means you have successfully survived finals week and did not go completely insane. You deserve a cookie, and no, my friend, not a dining hall stale cookie, but a warm, gooey, homemade, Christmas Cookie. Yes, homemade desserts are just one of the many benefits of being home for winter break. It can be weird being home for such an extended amount of time. Fall Break and Thanksgiving were just little teases, but now you can relish in all the glory that exists in your own bed and bathroom. It may feel a little odd at first to be home once more after living the communal college life for the last four months. Here are 10 things that you may need to get used to, when returning home for winter vacation.
1. The food
Surprise! This is an obvious and welcome adjustment that you will need to go through. You have earned one month of home cooked meals and delicious holiday treats. Be careful, though, the Winter Break 15 is a thing and you don't have the excuse that you are hibernating for winter (even though I still use it).
2. Your bed
While I am still on that twin bed life at home, there is a certain comfort that my bed gives me that my school bed just can't. For those of you with big-kid beds, feel free to lounge and take up as much space as possible while you still can. Come end of January, it'll be time to retreat back to your little college bed.
3. The free time
These past two weeks have been filled with late night studying, papers, finals, and a lot of stress. Now that you are home, it may feel a bit odd to not have anything weighing on your shoulders. I'm sure you'll find a way to cope though. Don't worry there will be plenty of time for homework and syllabus fun Spring Semester.
4. No roommate
If you love your roommate, it will be a little sad to not have someone to talk to every night before you go to sleep or to just see every day. Being in your own room can be a little lonely. If you hate your roommate, you are overjoyed to not have to deal with their mess and annoying habits. Being in your own room is an oasis.
5. The rules
Now that you are home, its back to living under your parent's house rules. This means that you probably can't leave a dish in the sink for three days or eat delivery pizza in your living room at 3:00 a.m. While your mom treated you like a prince/princess when you were home for a short break, now that you're here for a month, its time to start helping out around the house.
6. Your family
After months of being apart, you can now be home with your family for an extended period of time. When you came home for Fall Break and Thanksgiving you and your family were so happy to be together there was not much time for fighting. After being home for a few weeks, you're bound to start bickering and getting on each others nerves, but that's what family is for. You wouldn't trade them for the world.
7. Your pets
You've been looking at pictures that your mom has been sending you of your dog/cat/bunny/bird/turtle/unicorn for months and now you can finally hold them in your arms. You need the unconditional love and affection that only a loyal pet can give you, especially after finals.
8. Your friends
Your friends at home and your friends at school are probably very different and you have a very different dynamic with both groups. Being home means you can be together with your hometown friends again, even though you will miss your school friends. Why can't you just bring your school friends home and then bring your home friends to school?
9. Your town
If you are going from a school in the city back to your home in the country, or vise versa, it's going to be a strange adjustment. How am I supposed to sleep without the calming sounds of firetrucks and car honking? There are actual mountains and forests here? What a strange concept.
10. Missing college
After being home for a week or two, you may start to miss the college life and wish to be back. Even though you were dying to be home the last few weeks of the semester, you love being at school more than you thought you did. Enjoy your Winter Break at home, you'll be back to dining hall food and shared laundry rooms soon enough.
