If you haven’t looked at a calendar in the past 48 hours, then I’d like to welcome you to December. The Orlando heat has finally subsided, and unfortunately, final exams are just a few days away. The stress is building and crunch time has set in, but there are still a few things to look forward to now that December has started. For most, this means that Christmas or Hannukah is getting closer each day, and that returning home can last for longer than a weekend. Personally, I love this time of year because there really isn’t any atmosphere or energy that you can compare to the holiday season. And what’s not to look forward to? Family, friends, food, and of course, all the comforts of home which, to a college freshman, feel like a five-star hotel after four months in dorm life. Everyone’s anticipating that ride home, but there’s still one thing to consider; how different will adapting to being home for four weeks really be?
My first winter break home didn’t seem like anything new. I drove down for the month and settled back into my regular “at home” routine. I assumed we all did, but what I wasn’t expecting was getting so used to being at home that returning for spring semester seemed like going to college for the first time all over again. It felt almost counterproductive. I had put so much time and effort into adjusting to my surroundings that going home just made me nostalgic about the little things I had left back in Palm City; being a few short miles from the beach, my own bed, or even the sounds of my parents morning routines waking me up hours before I had to be. When it was time to go back, I was blindsided by the feeling of being homesick; something I hadn’t even thought about in months.
Sophomore year was a little different. This time, I had much more to miss when it was time to say farewell to UCF and hello to south Florida. I realized that the year prior, there just weren’t that many things tying me down at college, and I realize now that this was normal for a college freshman. Everything changed the following fall semester. After I went Greek, the hardest thing I had to do was go four weeks without seeing all of my brothers and all of the friends I’d made that semester. I had gotten used to a lifestyle that was so busy and fun and productive that the luxury of having nothing to do was driving me insane. Everything in my hometown closes at 9pm with the exception of the supermarket and Walmart. I think that pretty much sums up why I found it difficult to find things to do back home, even when I was with my family or my small group of friends that I have left from high school. But it dawned on me that I needed that downtime to recharge, and I think it’s safe to say that we all do. I can safely say that this year, as a junior, I’ll be catching up on all the sleep I was told I would miss as a third year student in college.
I realize now that it’s not better, nor worse, to miss school or home more, because it all depends on the person. In my personal opinion, I think missing your school, your fraternity or sorority, your friends, or even your job, is something good, because you should want to be at college enjoying the things that make it the best four years. It’s also great to miss home, to miss where you came from, and to miss the people that got you to freshman year in the first place. It’s a humbling experience to go home and realize that apart from UCF, you have a place and a family that anticipates your arrival, especially for the holidays. So, the next time you return home for the month of December and you start to feel that hometown boredom settling in, try to enjoy it, because the second you return to school, reality will rear its head all over again.