Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges are extending their winter breaks to prevent the spread of the virus. With that comes confusion for students. After making new friends, getting used to a new routine, and gaining freedom from parents and your hometown, many students are unsure of how to occupy themselves during these next few months. It’s important to remember that the pandemic is still around us and we should be doing our best to prevent the spread. If you’re spending your break at home and are looking for ideas, you’ve come to the right place!
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Pick up a new hobby
With this extra time comes great opportunities to explore new interests and learn something new about yourself. This can also help take you to the beginning of quarantine when we were baking bread and making whipped coffee. During the break, I plan to learn how to use Photoshop and Canva. There are endless possibilities such as photography, cooking, crafts, and many more.
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Learn new recipes to bring back to school
If you live in a dorm or apartment with a stove or oven, you have an advantage when it comes to food. Instead of relying on the dining hall, you can make tasty meals right in your college household. If you have the ability to cook at home, you can take this time to look at recipes online that are easy enough for college students to make. If you’re interested in learning to make fancier meals, you can also take this time to perfect difficult dishes. Now that the holidays are approaching, there are tons of fun recipes that you can make with family or alone.
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Have a Zoom event with friends
Lots of students are upset about this break because they’re going to miss the friends they’ve made during the semester. Since the pandemic is still going on, having in-person gatherings might not be the best idea. Some things to do over Zoom are pollyannas, Friendsgiving, watching Christmas movies together, or just having a talk session. This can be helpful if you need a break from your family and you want to catch up with friends from school.
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Upcycle your clothes
If you have an overabundance of clothes in your closet and are looking to give them a second life, upcycling can be a great way to prevent throwing out clothes. During the holiday season, you can make old sweaters or sweatshirts into ugly Christmas sweaters. You can also either tie-dye or bleach dye old shirts that can make them into new, fun colors. If you have plain shirts, you can embroider them to have cute designs. If you have older jeans you can upcycle those too. Again, there are tons of options to help you remake old clothes into something that looks new.
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Go on walks
This sounds boring, but if you do research, there are some beautiful places to walk around. If you go to a city school, this is a great way to get back in touch with nature. If it starts to snow, you can see pretty sights and get great pictures. This is also a good way to spend time with friends in a safer manner. As long as you wear masks and distance, this is a fun chance to catch up with friends from your hometown or ones who you haven’t seen since school started. There are also Christmas villages that you can walk around or shop during December. Walks are also great exercise methods if the gym isn’t an option or it’s difficult to exercise from home.
This winter break and the holiday season are going to look weird for many. As the pandemic continues, we all have to do our part to keep ourselves and others safe. Once classes end and free time suddenly open up, you can be creative in how you want to spend these next two months.