As a college freshman, high school memories are not too far from my mind. Along with this comes the memories of Christmas, and the always elusive Christmas break. The idea of a 10-day break flutters around in the young high school mind during parties, assemblies, and the ever so devastating unit tests. The anticipation for break is filled with reminders that you are stuck for eight hours a day in a brick building, but for a college student, it is completely different.
Although the anticipation for lack of classes, studying, and most responsibilities never seems to go away, there is a lot that changes within a semester.
We're bored.
After a week being home it normally hits. The excitement of being home is whisked away after all the exciting things are completed: you saw your dog, ate home cooked food, and slept in until three. Now the realization hits: one whole month of nothing.
It's at times like theis when you realize all that has changed in your daily life since you have been at school. At school, you can walk maybe five feet out of your dorm room before you run into a friend or classmate. There's normally an ever so popular hang out spot that will be filled with laughter and possible raunchy jokes until the sun nearly rises, and people are always up for going out and doing random things.
When home, we sit. Those back home friends that we are always so eager to see are either still in high school, where their break doesn't start until weeks after yours, or are off working and busy with their own plans a lot of times. The ease of finding friends is not something that you realize until you are neck deep in the third season of "Friends" with a pint of ice cream melting in your lap.
The other wonderful thing about being home for break is the ever constant parental authority. The fact that you have been surviving for the past four months without anyone looking over your shoulder or telling you what to do does not concern them. You are in their house and must follow their rules, curfew, and constant interrogation.
Usually anger follows a situation that has this parental confrontation, and the only thought you have is to run to your friend's room and vent like always, and then you realize their room is now three some hours from you and they are decorating cookies and can't answer the phone.
The relief? Work.
You realize that the only way to get a break from the boredom and the bragging is work. Depending on where you work, slaving over a number two cheese burger is the highlight of your day (I would just like to point out that as I am writing this article, my parents are continuing to call up to my room asking what I'm doing).
Two weeks into break and this is where you are at, and break doesn't end for awhile. It is OK, we all understand, and we are all in the same boat. It's a freshman thing.
