Let's be honest, no matter what year in college you are in, you are burnt out beyond words now that finals are over. It feels like this is the first breath of real air you have taken in months. Especially since Thanksgiving break happened, everything after has just been a blur of extensive studying, cramming, tears, and mental breakdowns at weird times of the days. But now, it is finally over, and you can relax. Here is why it is so important that you take some time for yourself this winter break.

You have just finished another (or your first) semester at college and the exhaustion and every emotion and feeling that you have suppressed for the past two weeks finally sets in and you don't know how to handle yourself. Trust me, I am right there with you, and it is the weirdest feeling ever. To a certain extent, we in the United States, are bred to be so school and education oriented that we don't even know what to do with ourselves when it all comes to a halting stop after our last final. But, here is what you should do and why it is important.

I find it most beneficial for myself when I truly just take the time to seriously disconnect from all things school related.

I mean obviously this comes after I (to a fault) obsessively refresh my account to find out my grades and GPA, but once all that is done, I log out of everything and refuse to open them up until the last few days before school starts back up. During the semester, I spend all my time with multiple D2L tabs open, constantly doing homework for different classes and having no break from school on my mind or my computer. During winter break, that all comes to a halt. By logging out and telling myself to not open any of those sights I can have days and weeks without school looming over me like a dark cloud at my every moment. Winter break is all about taking the time to step back and enjoy the holidays and life and refresh yourself before another difficult semester.

My next step is one that I find to be the most important, and yet, the most difficult to achieve, stop stressing about what happened in the past semester. And now I don't mean to say forget what happened, just give yourself a break and stop stressing about it. This applies to just about anything, classes, grades, friends, drama, etc. Anything that was particularly difficult for you this semester, just acknowledge and take pride in the fact that you dealt with everything to the best of your ability and if not, figure out a plan of how you can better tackle that problem should it arise in the future. I live by the moto, don't pretend like it didn't happen, just acknowledge the good parts and memories, create a plan to improve them, and move on. That's it, just move on. Past is in the past and anything that happened, you cannot go back to so why waste your break stressing or thinking about something like that now? Set yourself free of all those mental restraints.

Just remember, take the time to be with your family, friends, and loved ones this winter break, and remember to disconnect. Disconnecting from the events of the past semester will allow you to reconnect and better prepare for all that is waiting for you in the next semester and in 2019.