Every college student knows what it's like to be trapped in a bubble. Once you settle into your routine, classes are in full swing and you're spending time with your friends, it can be easy to forget that there is a reality beyond college. It's similar to the effect of being in a Vegas casino – you lose track of time, forget about whatever it is that's going on at home, and you immerse yourself into your environment. Only when you return for the holidays do you realize how deeply you were trapped in that bubble, and how quickly you're going to have to pull yourself out.

Now, I'm in Milwaukee, and my family is in Massachusetts, so of course there was a degree of disconnect expected. I knew I wasn't going to be able to keep up with everything that was going on with my family, and vice versa. Only after Thanksgiving did I realize just how out-of-touch with what my family was doing. I stayed with a friend instead of going home, and it bothered me that I wasn't aware of what my family was doing and that I couldn't be involved with their plans. It made me feel extremely isolated, but I told myself that I would be able to make up for lost time and break out of my bubble during Christmas, when I could see my family again.

I have been home for several days now, and breaking out of my bubble has been harder than I thought. My mind remains fixated on everything I will have to do when I go back to school, and doing all my Christmas shopping last minute has been quite the challenge, as I haven't had the time to think about what I would get everyone. It was so easy to immerse myself in the routine of college, it might as well have been an entirely separate existence. For months, it seemed like nothing else mattered but school and work and everything that came in between, and now that I'm home, and I have to devote my attention to the holidays, it's overwhelming. It makes me feel like an outsider, like I don't belong. I never thought I would feel that way in my own home.