There is no doubt that we all love being at school living by our own rules and on our own time, and getting to be around our best friends through it all. But, as the end of the semester approaches and the workload gets even greater (I know, I did not think it was possible either) there is no better place to be than home.

Getting in that car or boarding that plane to go back to your hometown is the best feeling in the world and the holiday season is the perfect time for it.

Since this was my first semester as a college freshman, I was not sure if I was even going to make it out of finals week alive. The amount of work that I had crammed into the two weeks before coupled with what felt like endless nights in the ZSR library studying until dawn, it was not looking too optimistic.

But after running on minimal sleep and reading until my brain hurt, I did it. The greatest reward that I could have possibly gotten for completing the first half of my freshman year and one of the two most stressful weeks that I will encounter was walking into my house and knowing I'll get to stay for a whole month.

I could not imagine being anywhere but home for the holidays. Sitting by the fire with my family at night in festive pajamas, drinking a cup of hot chocolate by the Christmas tree, waking up to the ground covered in a blanket of snow; I would not want it any other way.

There is a sense of comfort and warmth that comes along with the holiday season by itself, but being in your own house with your family, which is now a luxury you only get to experience a few times a year, is irreplaceable.

Think back to when you thought you would fail all of your finals or that there was no possible way you could meet that assignment's deadline. What a time that was! During this holiday season, I encourage you to be thankful for the one thing that is always going to be there and hopefully never change: home.