I don’t know about you, but I always thought spring break would be more fun when I got to college. Beach parties in Miami, fake IDs, traveling with my friends… And then I actually got to college, and I realized how fake all the movies are, and that that’s not who I am at all. Last spring break, I went home because I missed my friends and family more than I could bear. I promised myself I would do something fun and extra college-y for this spring break. Then my roommate Alexandra told me she’s going home. And my boyfriend Aidan told me he’s going to visit his best friend. I wanted to go to New York to visit an old friend, but I can’t afford a $700 plane ticket. So I told myself I would stay in Seattle and hang out with some of my other friends, discover new parts of the city, and enjoy my time off.
Then winter quarter hit. I think winter quarter is always pretty rough, but it was especially rough for me this year. About halfway through, my anxiety hit me full force with a vengeance, bad enough to the point where I had to go home for about five days while my mom helped me recover just enough to exist as a human again. For a few days, we danced around the idea of me going back home, to San Diego, and taking a leave of absence from Seattle U. Honestly, this quarter sucked. When I was home, I told my parents I wanted to come home for spring break. I don’t regret this decision, but the closer spring break gets, the more I realize that my parents work, my brother and all my friends won’t be on break, and I’m going to be spending some time alone. Over summer, I went stir crazy, and while spring break is only a week long (two for me, yay for not having sit down finals!), I get antsy pretty quickly. So I decided to make a list of things to look forward to, even though I don’t have any big plans.
1. Not having any plans. While this quarter was rough, to say the least, it was also really productive. I found my place as a Health and Wellness Crew (HAWC) member and planned some events I’m really proud of, as well as committed to co-leading our second biggest event next quarter, which meant starting to plan now. I got my first job. I took three reading-heavy classes. I wrote for Her Campus. I put in a lot of work this quarter, and I’m proud of the results I got―but finishing the quarter, I am drained. I’m definitely a morning person, so I don’t plan to sleep until noon every day of my break (no shame if you’re planning to do so), but I’m looking forward to not needing to plan all of my days down to the minute.
2. Getting some much needed sleep. I’m trying to work myself into a grove of going to sleep between ten and eleven every night, and I’m excited to use spring break to start to make the habit. This quarter, I woke up around eight every morning, and while I don’t have any morning classes next quarter, I would like to wake up between eight and nine every morning (which I kind of do naturally, anyway). While I am going to try to get to bed relatively early over spring break, there will be absolutely no alarms set. This spring break, I am sleeping.
3. Spring cleaning! I love cleaning. I love channeling my inner Monica Geller and deep cleaning my room. Last weekend, Alexandra and I deep cleaned our room, and I finally went through my closet and donated three bags worth of clothes. When I go home, I plan to go through my closet and dresser, and finally go through all my books and donate the ones I know I won’t read again. Is Marie Kondo proud of me yet?
4. Visiting my favorite local places. While I don’t have any plans persay, I am going home to San Diego, California. I don’t care what anyone says, Seattle beaches just… aren’t real beaches (sorry, Aidan). Not too sound too Southern Californian, but the beach really is my happy place―I love the beach. Especially since I’m trying to manage my anxiety, I’m planning to spend as much time at the beach as I can. San Diego sunsets cannot be beat (sorry, Seattle), so you can bet I’ll be soaking in the sun and watching it disappear every day that I’m home.
5. Finding new favorite local places. You never know an entire city. If you’re staying in Seattle, there are so many amazing places you can visit that you may not even know exist. Pick a street and start walking. Play tourist for a day. Call a friend and have a picnic in a park to which neither of you have ever been. I’ll be trying to find some used bookstores I don’t currently know about, and maybe doing a bit of thrift shopping.
6. Spending time with myself. Alexandra is my roommate and best friend, and Aidan is my boyfriend who lives just down the hall from us. This means that two of my favorite people are always just a few feet away from me. Don’t get me wrong, I adore and appreciate them both and I’m grateful that I get to spend some unplanned moments of free time with them because of how close we live. But our proximity means that I don’t get as much “me-time” as I did last year, when I didn’t have a roommate or a boyfriend. It’s not like I particularly miss being alone most of the time, but come on, we all need alone time. Going home when my parents work and my brother and friends aren’t on break means I’ll get to stock up on it. (And I’ll probably come back annoying Alexandra and Aidan because of how much I’ll miss them.)
7. Catching up on all the hobbies I didn’t have time for during the quarter. I’m a creative writing major and ironically, I rarely write and don’t set aside as much time as I could to read. I used to write 20-30 chapter novels over a three-month summer vacation, but now I can’t find the time to write a short story unless it’s for a class assignment. Last year, I read about 18 books, and I’m trying to beat my record this year. So far, I’m at two. Not promising. But I really didn’t have the time this quarter, so I’ll be using my break to catch up on some reading and write whatever comes to mind.
Spring break isn’t that long, but even if you don’t have any big plans, or any plans at all, there are always things to look forward to―you just have to find them. I hope my list inspires you to find little pieces of happiness in your break, and I hope you enjoy the start of spring!