Winter break is ending for college students everywhere. The time for sleeping in until noon and bingeing on Netflix for the remainder of the day is over. Second semester is calling. Packing and preparing to go back to school comes with many mixed emotions. On one hand, I cannot wait to see my college friends but on the other hand, I would love some more time with my friends at home. I’ll miss my parents, siblings and especially my dog at home. I will miss showering without having to wear flip flops. I will miss being able to walk fifteen steps from my room to the kitchen for snacks and meals. I will miss the participating in the hometown activities. I will miss many things about home but there are so many things that I have missed about being at school.

I have missed being able to walk downstairs to hang out with my friends. I have missed trips to Taco Bell at odd hours of the night. I have missed eating meals with all my friends where we gather together and talk about everything from strange eating habits to serial killers. I have missed to unpredictableness of college.

“Never a dull moment” is the perfect phrase to describe college. There might be someone you don’t even know knocking on your door asking for a cigarette or a guy walking around campus in ill-fitting, flowered pajama bottoms. A have missed the general antics of college students.

With a new semester comes new classes, new responsibilities as well as new opportunities for adventure. I have all my books ordered and I am ready for my classes. I have a on-campus job for the semester and I am always up for a late night Taco Bell trip or whatever opportunity that may arise. I am also very excited to spend Mardi Gras in its birthplace. I am ready for new experiences. I am nervous and excited, prepared and unprepared but the new semester is coming whether I am ready or not.

Mixed emotions go beyond the typical “things and people that I am going to miss”. I have mixed emotions about what to bring back and what to leave behind. Space is limited in the Mustang convertible that I will be riding back in with my friend. I haved asked myself about 10 times if I really need to pink my salt rock lamp back and I have decided that yes, I do need to bring it back. Bob, my basil plant that I have grown from a seed? No, I will leave that in the care of my 10-year-old sister. Rest in peace Bob. Clothes. The unpredictable Mobile weather has caused given me no choice but to bring back almost everything I own (which after my past 13 years of Catholic school uniforms is really not much).

By the time this article is published, I’ll be back to shower shoes and no more home cooked meals and all my mixed emotions will have faded away. “Never a dull moment” will be in full swing and the full weight of responsibilities will be palpable. Farewell winter break, thank you for treating me well and for giving me adequate time to spend with family and friends. Spring semester 2016, let’s do this.