If by chance you don’t have your own countdown -- there’s no way you’ve avoided sensing the countdowns around campus: Fall Break is right around the corner and everyone is stoked about it. Whether or not you’ve spent the last month crossing off days on your calendar in anticipation of your mom's famous lasagna, and bedtime without your roommate being six feet away, everyone has a reason to look forward to Fall Break!
Check out these 10 do’s and don’ts on how to get the most out of your Fall Break.
- Grant your parents a little grace. If you are going home for fall break, live by your parents’ rules while you are under their roof (You’ll be back to your dorm, your rules soon enough).
- Don’t treat your parents’ home like a hotel. Unpack your suitcase and spend time with them!
- Don’t try and force a friendship that just isn’t there anymore. When you graduate high school, you promise your friends that you'll never change, that the two of you will stay close until you're knitting sweaters in rocking chairs, but sometimes life doesn't pan out that way. You've both grown and experienced new things and you may be different people on the other side. That's okay! Be happy for your friends even if they're not who you remembered. Also don’t write off other ex-classmates because people change.
- Take Fall Break as the break it's meant to be — Give your liver a break, put your phone down, be present.
- Go for a solo adventure, whether you go home or stay in NoPo.
- Don’t worry about squeezing in a coffee date or night out with every single person you knew in high school — Quality is so much more important than quantity of social interactions while you’re home.
- Before you leave The Bluff, make sure your belongings are secure. Lock your room, house, windows and car. If you have plants, make sure you have a trusted friend lined up to water them!
- Be honest about how much school work you actually need to accomplish during your week off and plan accordingly. All the wonderful rest and rejuvenation will go swirling right down the drain when you have to pull an all-nighter Sunday night before classes resume.
- Don’t break your parents’ hearts by acting more excited to see your pets than you are them (even if you are).
- Leaving home for the second time is sometimes harder than the first. Without the anticipation of a brand new world, it might be harder to make the trek (however long), back to Pilot country. Don’t be embarrassed if you end up crying in the airport, or while hugging your dog on the kitchen floor — we’ve all been there at some point.
Not everyone looks forward to Fall Break, for reasons that vary from a challenging home life, to new romantic relationships on The Bluff, and that is OK. Remember to use this week outside of lectures and labs as a time to rest and do what is best for your mental and physical well being.
No matter the outcome of your Fall Break, remember it will only last one week. The time will pass and by next Monday morning, you’ll be back in class, struggling to keep your eyes open as if there were no break at all.
