A semester at college can be draining even on the most capable of students, but thankfully most of us get up to a month off for winter break. Even if you aren’t doing anything all that exciting for your break, being home for the holidays can be really great.

1. Home cooked food

While dining hall food might have been new and exciting for a short period of time when the semester started, its gets old fast. Even if the food itself might not be all that bad, eating basically the same thing for months at a time gets boring. Being home means getting to eat home cooked food again, and it has never tasted so good.

2. Seeing high school friends

Keeping up with high school friends in college can be hard. Even if you aren’t that far away from each other or even go to the same schools, life gets in the way. In college everyone has their own schedules and their own lives and chances are, you don’t get to spend as much time with your high school friends as you would like. Break however, means that almost everyone is home at the same time, which almost never happens, which makes it the perfect opportunity to catch up with any friends that you might have been neglecting throughout the school year. College friendships are great, but don’t lose the friends you have had for four years—now is a good chance to make up for lost time.

3. Getting to sleep in your own room and bed

Having a roommate can be really great and can keep you from feeling lonely, but it also comes along with a lack of privacy and space. Because of this, going back to having your own room and space when you come home feels like a luxury after living in a cramped dorm room for so long. No number of mattress pads can replace the feeling of your own bed.

4. Spending time with family

Finally, and maybe most importantly, spending the break at home means that you get to spend more time with your family, and pets if you have them. While you might have wanted to get away when you lived at home, nothing shows you how lucky you are to have the family that you do than leaving them for months at a time. Winter break feels like break from real life and once the new semester starts and everyone gets busy again, you might not get to spend as much time with your family as you would like, so take advantage of this time when you get to be near the people that you love.