Seeing friends from home, eating home cooked food and seeing your family and pets. What more could you ask for in a break? While all of this is super exciting and cheerful, it can also be stressful to accurately plan everything. Here are my five tips to making Thanksgiving stress-free for college students traveling home!
- Get Homework Done Early
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What’s the most stressful part of the holiday season as a student in college? Homework. While you’re trying to make plans on how to get home, you simultaneously have to stress about all the homework you have to get done. Not to mention, finals are right around the corner.
The best way to prepare for this is to manage your time accurately. I love making lists on my notes app and each day I try to check off at least two to three items. It’s super helpful, while also being very low commitment. This way, you can go home without the worry of having any homework that you forgot to do.
- Pack Light
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As an overpacker myself, I know how tempting it can be to bring home every piece of clothing you have at school. However, you need to keep in mind how many clothes you’re going to be bringing back with you. If you are going somewhere cold, like I am, you’re going to want to bring back heavy coats and snow boots.
If you overpack on the way there, you won’t be able to bring as much back. First, I would recommend only bringing home clothes that you need. These are the obvious items that you wear every day. Second, bring home items that you no longer need at school. Any clothes that you had for summer no longer need to be in your college closet. Lastly, bring home clothes that you want. Make this the smallest section along with shoes.
It is so tempting to pack everything you own, but trust me, you will thank yourself in the future for not doing it.
- Make Plans With Friends
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For many college students, Thanksgiving break will be the first time they have seen their friends since the summer. Everyone always wants to hang out, but with the business of the holidays and everyone’s family being home, hanging out with your friends can be pushed aside and even forgotten about.
Before you come home, make sure to text your friends and make plans beforehand. This way, everyone can have an idea of what day they are hanging out and what you guys are doing. It makes it so much easier to have a date and plan in mind, so that everyone is on the same page.
- Clean Your Room
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Before you go back home, make sure to clean your space. Whether you live in a dorm, an apartment or even a house, cleaning makes all the difference when you go on break. It’s sad enough to leave your family and friends when coming back to school, so take some of the stress away by coming back to a clean and refreshed room.
You can even go a step further by decorating for the holidays. Decorating is a small touch that adds so much to a space, and by decorating for the holidays, you can excite yourself for the upcoming Christmas break.
- Get Excited
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The most important thing to do in preparation for Thanksgiving break is to get excited. Make plans, call your friends and think about all the things you miss about home. It can be so hard to balance a healthy relationship with loving school and missing home, so enjoy every opportunity where you get to experience each in a good amount.
My advice for getting excited would be to think of everything you’ve missed and want to do at home. This makes it so much easier to go home without feeling sad about leaving school.
Thank you so much for reading this article about advice for Thanksgiving break. I hope that you all have so much fun at home. Enjoy the holiday and make the most out of your break, because you certainly deserve it.