Christmas Break: the glorious three weeks at the end of the calendar year to relax, eat unhealthy food, and (if you’re from California) enjoy the break from Indiana snow. However, there’s a lot more you could, and should, be doing this break besides sleeping and recovering from finals – though you should probably do that first. Consider these five things you should make time for during this break.
1. Spend time with family
If you take one thing out of this post, take this: semesters, drama, and boys come and go, but your family is always there. For a lot of us Lady Domers, our second home at Notre Dame is a long ways away from our first home, which means Christmas break is one of the few times a year we get to see our families. Take this chance to catch up with family and let them get to know you again! (Surely Notre Dame has affected you in more ways than one, so let them know the new you.) Also, get to know them again – you aren’t the only one that can grow!
2. See old friends
We are overworked and underpaid during the semester! For me at least, it’s hard to keep up-to-date with everything going on with my friends back at home, or at other universities. It was so easy to know my friends’ lives inside and out in high school because I saw them every day, and we had sleepovers every weekend! During the semester, I barely have an hour a week to relax and talk with friends back home, let alone talk about everything that happened that week! Take this down time to bring everyone up to speed with your life, and let them bring you up to speed with their lives!
Look at this best-friend-pic! How presh!
3. Enjoy your hometown
I know we all take our hometowns for granted. Very few of us actually come from big famous cities, so we all get that feeling every now and then that our hometown isn’t good enough. Well Lady Domers, get that thought right out of your head! Go out, explore your town like a tourist, and instill a little hometown-pride in yourself for a change. If you think your town is the bee’s knees, so will everyone else!
Rainbow Falls- this cute little waterfall in my hometown
4. Plan for next semester
Yes, yes, break is for relaxing… However, I know I cannot fully relax when I think about my studying last semester. I can literally pinpoint every place I went wrong in studying, and everything that needs work. We’re all ND students, aka we are all used to a hectic life full of “There’s something productive I could be doing right now” and “I have free time… Am I forgetting about something?”
There will come a point during this break where you’ll get bored of laying on the couch watching Hallmark movies and you’ll want a task. Well, here ya go. Think about what you did wrong last semester, and plan a change to make next semester. To get you started, I’ve already found something to do better next semester: you know that cute Lilly planner you have that you never use? USE IT! Plan your exam-studying, use the cute little stickers to help you, color-code your assignments. If you need help with planner organization, here’s a cute link that explains step-by-step how to effectively organize your agenda!
I can’t even handle the prettiness
5. Think about life
As cheesy as it sounds, think about your life after Notre Dame. You’re probably already at that self-help stage with New Year’s right around the corner, but take it a step further (aka long-term. We all know resolutions only last a few weeks). I’m not saying make any concrete plans if you’re not a senior, but at least put the little seed in the back of your mind. You’ll thank yourself later.
These five things are not just merely suggestions. They encompass some of the most fundamental things of healthy living: family and friend relationships and being happy with yourself and the life you live. Even if you do none of these things during break, you should think about the relationships in your life and your life in general. If you see something you don’t like, make adjustments! 2015 is your year, Lady Domers!
J.Law’s got it together. Take lessons.
Remember, it’s nice to be nice!
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