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SBU | Culture > Entertainment

A Much Needed Break!

Jordan Swift Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Winter break was exactly what I needed after all those finals I took.

Even though I worked Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., it was a nice break from school. My brain was able to shut off for a while and I had no worries in the world. 

I’m making my winter break sound SOO boring. However, it wasn’t too bad. 

I was able to make some money and spend time with some friends, and more importantly, I got to be with my family.

Here are some highlights of my winter break. 

Starting strong with Christmas!

  • Since I was at school from Thanksgiving break up until winter break, we didn’t have a chance to go and get a Christmas tree. So, the first thing on our agenda was to get one!
  • Once we got the Christmas tree, we let it poof out for a day and got right to decorating!
  • Fast forward a couple of days, and it was Christmas Eve. We all got into our matching pajamas (which you might find cringy but I absolutely love it) and had an amazing dinner with my grandpa. We opened our gifts from our grandpa and gave him his. And then we went on to watch our favorite Christmas movie “Home Alone”!
  • After a good night’s rest, we woke up to it being Christmas morning! My brother and our foreign exchange student (who has also grown to be my brother) woke us all up by blaring Christmas music at 8 a.m.!
  • We all ate breakfast and then sat on the couch to open our presents. We were and still are very grateful for what we were blessed with. Afterward, we gave our parents their presents and they were extremely happy. 
  • On Christmas day, for as long as I can remember, we have gone to my grandma’s for Christmas lunch and done a small Christmas there. 
  • At the end of the day, we all return home and watch the original “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. 

Next up, New Year’s!!

  • For my family, on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, we don’t typically do anything. We like to stay home and watch the ball drop because my parents are worried about being out so late. 
  • However, this year we went up to one of their friends’ houses and spent New Year’s Eve there. We watched the ball drop and played some really fun games! I am forever grateful for these memories!

And last but not least, my first New York City trip!

  • So, a little fun fact, I had lived in New York for 16 years and had never been to the city.
  • My family decided to take a spontaneous day trip to the city the weekend after New Year’s. The reason being that we really wanted to see the Rockefeller Tree. 
  • We left at 4 a.m. and got to the city around 9 a.m. We started at Times Square, walked over to Rockefeller Center, and then proceeded to do some shopping.
  • I tried Raising Canes for the first time and thought it was so good! We got to listen to some good music and just overall enjoy ourselves.
  • Then we went to Center Park! Which was my favorite part of the whole trip.
  • As I mentioned earlier, I love “Home Alone”. This includes the whole Home Alone series. If any of you didn’t know, Center Park is in “Home Alone 2”.  
  • I’m so happy my family decided to take this trip, and we are planning to return in the spring.

Even though I said I worked most of the break, there were some pretty amazing parts to my break that I will forever cherish the memories of!

Jordan Swift

SBU '26

Jordan Swift is a second year writer at Her Campus at SBU chapter. She plans on writing about current trends, different events that have happened in her life, movies that she likes to watch, and how they relate to her life. Jordan is excited to get to know all her fellow Her Campus sisters. She can't wait to read all the creative writings that her chapter of Her Campus has to share with others in the world.

Jordan can be described as a senior at St. Bonaventure and is currently in the 3+2 program, with her undergraduate major being Public Health with an Occupational Therapy concentration. She has hopes of becoming an Occupational Therapist for adolescents in a school district. She has shadowed several different Occupational Therapists and has grown to love the profession.

When Jordan has free time, she looks forward to spending time with her family and friends, going on hikes, listening to music, watching movies, such as "Matilda" and "Hocus Pocus", and going on different spontaneous trips. She enjoys volunteering at local SPCAs, as well as volunteering at food banks.