Several of these stages could be repeated, and some people may experience them in different orders, but all college students understand both the joy and the struggle of winter break. We love it, but sometimes we struggle harder than we'd like to admit.
1. Relief
The semester is over, finals have been completed, and no matter the outcome of your grades, you are simply relieved that you can finally breathe again after weeks of stress.
2. Sleep
Since you have been sleep-deprived for weeks on end, hibernation is in order. For once, you aren't required to use an alarm to wake up in the morning--you can finally get the good night's sleep you've been waiting for.
3. Excitement
After resting up, it's just now hitting you that you have several weeks free of academic stress ahead of you. Now you have the time to be excited, and you should be! This is the stage where you start hanging out with old friends from high school and partaking in activities you don't normally have the time to do during the semester.
4. Relaxation
All that excitement can be exhausting, so once that stage is completed it's time to relax. Netflix becomes your best friend. Maybe you start reading a good book or pick up knitting by the fire as a hobby. Sit back with your hot cocoa in a blanket cocoon and enjoy this time to yourself. Maybe afterwards you'll revisit the excitement stage for a little while, but you'll always come back to this one.
5*. Holiday Celebration
The asterisk is to note that this stage could take place at pretty much any and/or multiple times over break. No matter what you celebrate, winter break is the time to allow yourself to completely immerse into the celebration of the holiday season. You may not have time to think about Jingle Bells or Frosty the Snowman over break, but now is the time to go all out.
6. Boredom
Unfortunately, you tend to run out of fun things to do at some point during break. This is when boredom sets in. All the free time you've been experiencing has been nice so far, but now you don't know what to do with yourself. You start to go a little crazy always sitting at home, but you're struggling to come up with something fun and interesting to do. It's around this time when you start wishing you were back at school with your college friends, especially if your family is beginning to drive you nuts.
7. Creativity
Once boredom sets in, you start to get creative on things that will entertain you. This is the stage where weird hobbies are born. Maybe you reactivate your Club Penguin account, or maybe you start to clean your room just for the sake of keeping yourself occupied.
8. Extreme Boredom
Eventually you run out of creative ways to escape boredom, so extreme boredom sets in. This may drive you insane to the point of wishing you had homework to do. This is also known as the insanity stage.
9. Eager
Along with extreme boredom, you begin to feel extra eager to return back to school. You miss your on-campus housing, your friends, parties, and weirdly enough, your professors. You also get excited to start next semester, even if it's just to escape your crazy family. Plus, you're sick of this boredom. At this stage, you may find yourself repeating stages you have already completed, but the eagerness will remain. You just want to go back.
10. Oddly Satisfied
On the last few days of break, you feel satisfied with the time you spent away from school, but you also can't wait to return. You know academic stress will soon make a reappearance in your life, but you're oddly satisfied with both the break and the return to school, even though you'll regret feeling this way as soon as syllabus week is over. For now, it's good to be back.
