Having a month off from school to unwind from a busy semester and being surrounded by family and friends were what motivated me throughout finals week. It was what I looked forward to since getting back from Thanksgiving break. In high school, I remember hearing from my college friends about the delights of a month break. The longest break I ever had was just over a week for Christmas and New Year. Currently, I am longing for spring break to quickly approach, winter break to have gone by slower and longer, and the upcoming semester to be as enjoyable and rewarding as possible.
This winter break, I took some time to reflect on my academic and career aspirations. Since I have not finished my spring semester schedule, I jotted down my aspirations in hopes of selecting courses that I was interested in and aligned to my long term goals. I wanted to challenge myself to take courses that I would not usually select while having courses in which the subject matter was not completely foreign to me.
A big thing for me coming into college was to correct some of my bad study and sleep habits that resulted from senioritis. Though I believe my senioritis was minor compared to the more extreme cases everyone seemed to know about, I knew that I needed to make changes if I were to learn more and enjoy college before burning out midway through the semester. I would often stay up late, make unhealthy food choices (as I often got hungry at night), and feel exhausted when I woke up the next morning. Additionally, I procrastinated and the stress quickly built up and got to me.
Wanting to avoid making the same mistakes I made in high school in college combined with the many academic and extracurricular demands, I worked diligently and fought my desire to rush to complete assignments last minute, stay up into late hours of the night, and eat junk food when I stayed up. All in all, I was very successful in maintaining my goals and hope to continue this throughout this next semester.
I thoroughly enjoyed my winter break; it gave me a great opportunity to relax, sleep in until noon, and lounge around my house as I pleased. This was the first time since summer that I truly got to appreciate the beauty of not having plans or assignments to complete. I enjoyed living spontaneously and doing whatever needed to be done around the house. I spent time with my family and friends, whom were eager to hear how my first semester of college went. Now, I have to get back to the academic grind of Oxford, but I will have these memories along with an open and relaxed attitude to overcome whatever spring semester has to bring.