What time is it?

Winter time!

Winter break has finally dawned on us college students. We can finally take a breather -- well, kind of. Going home can have its ups and downs. But going home for winter also means coming home for the holidays.

The Positives:

Being able to sleep in our own rooms.

We all get to make a huge list of our favorite foods,we want our parents to make us. For me it would definitely be my mom's champurado or my dad's homemade flour tortillas. Family food always hits the spot, especially since we live off of DC food, fast food, vending machine junk food, and what ever we can manage to make at home.

We get to see our old high school buddies, catch up, and hang out. It's always nice to go home and see how friends are growing into adulthood, just like ourselves. It isn't such an easy thing to go through.

For all the pet-lovers, to see our animals, whether it be for the cat-lovers, dog-lovers, fish-lovers, going to school and not being able to see your pet can be a little depressing at times. I know from experience, and it's so exciting to see my dear Yaqui and Max.

Getting to be a good amount of miles away from school is always nice. Just knowing that you are away, taking a tiny break from school, even if it is only for a short time.

The most important is being home, and spending some nice quality time with the family.

Along with all the great positives of going home, there's always the negative side.

The Negatives:

Even though you are away from school the thought of it still lingers behind in your mind. Having to make sure your schedule will be spotless for the following semester. Making sure FAFSA pulls through, and if it does, but you're still broke, getting loans is always a hard thing to agree to. But hey, as students, we have to do what we have to do.

Going to family functions, and being asked about school, grades, what you want to do in your life, your love life, getting compared to other cousins or being the cousin everyone is compared to. (But then there's a perk: food is in the presence of this, so it makes it easier handle.) Basically the people who are related to you want to know the whole enchilada!

For some of us, going back home means having a curfew again. Not having that total freedom at home isn't too fun, but that's pretty great back at school.

Getting to run your parents errands. It seems like every time I go home, my mom is always having me do something for her.

Even though there is both the negative and the positive to having a break from school, as students, we eventually cant wait to head back and hit the books.