Coming to Beloit from a sunny little suburb of Los Angeles, I knew I wouldn't be coming home for breaks shorter than a month. First off, it's expensive. Flying between LAX and ORD is never cheap because anything that involves Los Angeles and traveling is never cheap. Second, it's too much work. You ever fly cross-country? It's not fun. Now take that and add in the fact that you're going between two major international airports, one of which is Los Angeles International, home of crazy tourists and angry people, and the other Chicago O'Hare, home of angrier people and cold tourists, and factor in the four hours spent in a tin can barreling over the most topographically inane region of the United States.
Is it worth going home for midterm break?
No, no, it is not.
So here is a little preview into the life of an out-of-state student remaining on campus for spring break.
1. The Friday Where Everyone Leaves
Midterms are over, so everyone's peacing out. This usually includes most of your friends. Some are going to other friends' houses, while others are simply fleeing to go snuggle their pets. They'll all wave and make dramatic sad faces and say how much they'll miss you, but that doesn't do you a whole lot of good, because you're spending just another week with janky dorm showers and your campus's no-pets policy. Midterms might be over, but you're still at school.
2. Pizza and Moping
Because you are suddenly thrust into a world of not having things to do but also not having people to hang out with, you mope. You probably order pizza. If you're lucky, your parents might send you some money to "go out and do something." You will probably spend it on more pizza.
3. Sleep Schedule?
You pulled all-nighters all quarter to get work done. Now, you're doing it every night because...? Maybe it's Smash Bros, maybe it's Netflix, maybe it's that creative project that you don't get to do during classes because you have no time, but that first morning where the sun begins to lighten the sky beyond your window before your head's even met your pillow is the first sign that you've truly acclimated to the midterm break lifestyle.
4. Remembering You're an Introvert
Yeah, it sucks that everyone's gone. But after a while, you begin to realize something you almost forgot between all your classes, clubs, and social requirements: you're an introvert! Meals alone end up being a blessing because you don't have to share your chicken wings and mozzarella sticks with anyone. It's just you, BBQ sauce-slathered chicken, and fried cheese.
5. ALL THE SHOWS.
Got a Netflix account? Excellent - that's all you need anymore.
6. The Optimism of Having No Responsibilities
Being alone is normal now. Now, you feel like doing something. Anything's fine. You're feeling awesome. You're feeling great. You're feeling productive for the first time in ages. You are an adult, and you're going to do things!
7. The Blessing of an Empty Campus
You're a bit weird when you don't interact with people for a couple days. But so what? No one's around to see how truly odd you can be. Want to take a walk around the quad singing show tunes? Lay out on a table that's usually occupied? Explore a residence hall you're thinking about living in next year? No one's around to wonder what the heck you're doing, and that's great.
8. Inevitable Boredom
So you finished that thing you've been meaning to do since you got back from winter break. You've applied to a few internships or summer jobs and spent some quality time with your favorite hobby. You've caught up on all your shows. But you eventually run out of things to do and almost wish a professor would spring a surprise assignment just so you have something to do.
9. Return Day
It's Sunday, which means everyone's coming back! You've spent a week with minimal social interaction and lots more literal Netflix and chill than you might've otherwise preferred, so the first sounds of people in the hall are more alarming than welcome. Your first emergence into this strange and now-unfamiliar world feels like you've just been found by civilized people after being stranded on a deserted island for a year.
10. I See My Fraaans!
Even though you've completed your transformation into the Creature from the Black Lagoon, you're glad to have your people back for the rest of the semester. As good as it was to have whole pizzas to yourself, it was a lot more fun fighting for the last mozzarella stick while watching Bob's Burgers with your girls.
