Throughout this Winter break, more often than not, I would get excited, concerned and sometimes angry messages from my friends and acquaintances back home, asking me to hang out and catch up with them since neither parties have had the time to do so throughout the semester.

Said messages were usually left unread and unresponded to unless I managed a reply within the first 3 days of it being sent. The unusual, seemingly harmless action usually led to suspicion or disappointment from my especially closer friends, who knew about my consistent online activity and texting habits.

But frankly, I needed a break.

The previous semester was especially tiring for me for both my physical and mental health. Before the fall semester began, I was dumped by my ex-boyfriend. This led me to push myself out of way too many comfort zones, busy myself with clubs and exercise, drown myself in a series of high expectations for my engineering classes to keep my GPA satisfactory and set myself up for becoming a terrible excuse of a person due to my lack of time management, reckless behavior, and pitiful state. I burnt myself out, cried too many tears, and continued to go on as if life wasn't weighing down on me. I simply needed time to recuperate in a space I felt safe and familiar in — alone.

This break gave me the perfect opportunity to do so.

Rather than focusing on school and the number of responsibilities I had forced upon myself overhanging my shoulders, I instead took the time to focus on the little things that would make me happy, the things I couldn't necessarily do while I was away at college. I slept in until 3-4 pm daily for half of the break, I did menial chores and errands for my busy parents, picked up my younger cousins from school and played with them as much as I can, played my guitar and ukulele for hours straight until my fingers burnt from overuse, without the fear of completing unfinished assignments, and reignited my passion for art and writing.

I had done absolutely nothing of what I had said I would do, and absolutely nothing that I had wanted to do. Other than the necessary applying to internships and family vacation, I barely went out, I did NOT catch up on any of the work I was supposed to do, nor download and play the games I said I would so I could play with my gamer friends. It plain terms: I guess I was productive at being unproductive in every other sense besides relaxing and finding the simple pleasures I've once enjoyed and indulged in prior to college.

I don't regret it a single bit. Coming into this new semester, I'm refreshed, happy, and capable of taking on any fastball that comes my way.

Winter breaks are meant to be wasted.