Fall Break is a much-needed period of time in a college student's life. If your school doesn't have one, my sincerest apologies. I seriously don't know how you are maintaining your sanity. The weeks leading up to fall break are filled with anticipation of that relaxing and much-needed period of time away from classes, professors, projects, and everything that stresses you out. Fall Break is a blessing from the heavens -- it truly is. There are, however, some truths that we occasionally forget to remember about coming home from college, and Fall Break tends to open our eyes about these truths.
The moment you first arrive home is a joyous one. You lock eyes with your plush, inviting bed, and suddenly all seems right with the world. Your mom calls you down for dinner to a homemade meal and you think, "Wow, this is what dream are made of. Why did I ever leave?" Then you start remembering.
You wake up the next morning to a day that doesn't revolve around a schedule. It sounds like heaven at first, but eventually boredom hits. You think about seeing if one of your friends wants to do something... anything. You then remember that all of your high school friends are either still at school, have moved somewhere else, or you no longer talk to them. This tends to make socializing somewhat impossible. The whole lack of friends thing starts to make you miss college a bit, but hey -- at least you still have your mom.
When you are home from college on break, your days seem to have a certain unfamiliarity to them. It feels like you put your life on hold for a week to go back in time to the days you lived at home, and it's a bit strange. Your daily routine is abruptly thrown out the window, and those "lazy days on the couch" you once longed for just don't feel normal. Coming home for breaks allows you to realize how much your life and you yourself have changed since high school.
Let's be honest, though -- taking a break from college life is not all bad. Suddenly, you're no longer broke, and it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. You can finally buy that face moisturizer than you were putting off purchasing until you got home (and the dry skin on your forehand is oh so grateful). You may even be able to finally splurge on getting your nails done. You are rarely home anymore, so your parents may not mind paying for the little things. God bless them.
There are those friends you have remained close with despite going to different schools. You both make a mutual effort to keep up with one another, and when you do see each other, you pick up right where you left off. Seeing these friends is one of the wonderful things about coming home. These friends have been with you since that awful haircut you got sophomore year of high school, and stuck by you through that whole "I hate my parents and their rules and I'm too mature for this" phase. Seeing these friends is always such a great experience, because you're able to laugh about all the stuff you thought was so important in high school and reminisce on that time in your lives.
All in all, coming home from college can be a much needed break from all the stresses of school, but it can also make you realize how much you love college and your life there. At the end of the day, though, we need Fall Break. It is a time to recharge and reboot your brain for another nine weeks or so of hard work and dedication. Or scraping by and procrastination... whichever is more your style.
