Thanksgiving break has passed. You’ve barely survived a whole semester, a semester full of stress, drama, and worst of all, horrible cafeteria food. You stuffed your face with a ton of food and you were thankful for everyone that surrounded you.

Going home for the holidays is my favorite part of college. It is like life has given you a giant remote control, and you can just pause school for a second and just breathe. Just breathe and think about how far you have come in your life. Think about all of the all-nighters you’ve pulled, friendships made and lost, and all of the experiences you will live to tell your kids about. When most people go home, their main goal is to eat and catch up on their shows via Netflix. Though that is all fine and dandy and what I usually do, this there is one thing I am going to do different. I am going to make the most of my time at home for the upcoming holidays.

I plan to do this by connecting with my family members. Usually, I go home say my hellos, squeeze my dog, and then march straight into my room for week-long hibernation where I only come out for meals. Sort of like a prisoner to my room, except by choice, of course. This year, I’m going to sleep like a normal person and not well into the afternoon so I can actually be up at a reasonable hour and hang out with my family, ask them about their lives, and just catch up. We are getting old, and though they try to hide it, our parents are getting old as well. So we as a generation need to learn to put our phone screens down for a second and just enjoy their company.

I for one know I am guilty of sitting down to eat dinner at the table with my phone in my lap and paying more attention to funny memes on Twitter than to my parents and siblings. That is why I am hoping to change.

As I am growing up, I am starting to realize everything they have down for me, and starting to wish that I had appreciated them more. Because no matter how sappy this next line sounds, I truly am thankful for them. I’m thankful for the tough love in times where I really needed it, thankful for the late nights full of advice to help me overcome childish school drama, thankful for family vacations, thankful for all the time we’ve ever spent together, and overall just thankful for them helping me get this far in my life.

I feel, as adolescents, we sort of cast our families aside when we come to college, and that’s not cool. We have to realize the bitter truth that they aren’t going to be here for long, and we should cherish them while they are.