It's a damp morning. You've just finished your last exam. Your parents are on their way to pick you up, or you are ready to hop on a flight back across the country. Maybe you're carpooling to Northern Virginia with a bunch of friends, or maybe a bunch of total strangers. But first, you have to get yourself all packed up and situated with what you're going to bring home -- you know how it all is.
But now you're in the thick of winter break. You were preparing for the holidays, but now they're over. What do you do? Maybe you're doing a course over J-term. But let's assume you're not. You might try to pick up a few hours of work at your old high school job. Or perhaps you might stay at your dorm and keep your college job.
You've been given a respite from exams, social events, parties, lectures, papers, and even the dining hall. A whole month that is yours, in the best circumstances. What do you do, what do you eat, what do you work on? Are New Year's resolutions your thing? Are they really anyone's thing? You sit down, you find a blanket. Maybe there's someone there with you. You catch up on "Scandal" or delve into "Fallout 4." But you could be at work for the ninth hour in a row. It's late into the night, no one has come into the convenience store for your entire shift. But you'll get to go home eventually, or back to your dorm, like we said before.
I've found that no matter how long I sleep during break, it's always a better sleep. You have less to worry about. Those big problems might still be there, but if you're lucky there won't be as much biting at your mind. Even if you're working hard at school or work or volunteering or all three, there is something different about winter break. It divides the semesters, it breaks the cycle while also fulfilling it. It's the cold night between two stressful but exciting days. Winter break is there for you to see the other side of it all. It's a weird, chilly (at least if you're from this hemisphere), variable chunk of time that comes around the same part of they year, every year.
Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and have the best time managing yourself together before you embark on a New Year. That's the best advice I can really give.
