It's that time of year again. A time when college students come home for the holidays after a hard week of finals. When all is said and done, there are some good things and bad things about being home for the holidays. Here are five reasons why it's good and not so good being home for winter break:

Advantages

1. No schoolwork: I think that the biggest thing for me is not having that one assignment or multiple assignments looming over my head. It's great to wake up and know that there isn't anything that needs to be in a dropbox or submitted on BOLT for the next six weeks or so. The thundercloud of schoolwork has disappeared giving light to life without assignments.

2. Catching up on sleep: If you're like me, then your sleep schedule at school is non-existent. You could find the time to take a nap whenever you feel like it but you still never feel rested or fully charged. Winter break is a great time to catch up on all the sleep that you've been missing all semester. So far, I've been pretty lazy and slept until at least 11 a.m. every day. I feel great though. Sleep is a good thing and getting your eight hours is crucial to staying healthy.

3. Seeing friends and family: Obviously, this is an advantage. Coming home to see your family and old friends from high school is great. You get to catch up on each others' lives as well as hang out a few times while home. Spending time with your family and friends anytime and especially during the holiday season is always great.

4. Working: You could look at this one either way. However, I'll give you my take on why working is a positive during winter break. First, you make money. A lot of us college students are tight for cash and making an extra few bucks while being home can give us a nice financial cushion going into the spring semester. Second, as much as working may suck, it does kill time until you're back at school with all your friends once again. For me, keeping myself occupied during break is important. My job at home is one thing I can count on to kill time.

5. The gym: This one may only be something that only I'm calling a positive. It's been a few weeks since I last hit the weights and starting again this past week has felt great. It's helped me blow off steam about whatever may be bothering me as well as improved my mood. We all know that there's a lot of food that's eaten at this time of the year so working out can help keep us healthy. Why wait until New Year's to start getting into shape when you could start right now? Give yourself a little kick in the butt, throw on some tunes, and go workout.

Disadvantages

1. Not being around your friends *insert sad face*: Personally, going from living with six of my best friends back to living with my family is weird. Luckily, most of my friends from school aren't too far from me but I still miss them already. I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way. This is my least favorite thing about winter break or just breaks in general.

2. Unpacking: Since I've been home for the past few days, I haven't even taken a lot of the things I brought home out of their bag. I've been living out of my bag full of clothes so far and will probably keep doing that for the rest of break honestly. Unpacking everything just seems like a waste because then, next thing I know, I'll be packing it up again to go back to school.

3. Unwanted stress: In any situation, there can be stress. Over winter break there can be lots of stress coming from holiday shopping, being around family, and other sources as well. The holidays are a wonderful time of the year but there is a level of stress that comes with the times.

4. Working: I told you this one could go either way. Working in retail this time of year must be a nightmare. Besides that, there is the aspect of trying to save money for next semester while deciding whether or not to spend money on things that you've wanted since they may be on sale this time of year. In the words of Donna Meagle from "Parks and Recreation," "Treat yo self," but don't overdue it. There are still expenses that might need to be paid for the coming semester. Walk the fine line carefully.

5. Another year is almost over: This might be a weird disadvantage but hear me out. To me, it seems like just yesterday that 2015 began. Now, it's almost Christmas which means that 2015 only has a couple weeks left. It's crazy how time flies. I'm already done half of my junior year of college and have three semesters left at school. I can still remember the first day I moved into my dorm. I think it just is a blessing and a curse that time has gone by so fast.