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pine leaves, holly, a bundle of cinnamon, and a pinecone on a wooden table
pine leaves, holly, a bundle of cinnamon, and a pinecone on a wooden table
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Five Things Everyone Should Do Over Holiday Break

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Roderica Johnson Student Contributor, University of North Florida
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UNF chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Holiday break comes as a breath of fresh air to most college students who just spent the last week of classes cramming in the Thomas G. Carpenter Library. However, don’t fall into the temptation of being a couch potato. Holiday break is a great time to get started on things you’ve put on the back burner the entire semester, or even better, get a head start for the next semester. Here are five things you could be doing during holiday break, to be sure you aren’t wasting your life away with pizza and netflix.

  1. Get a job

The holidays is the perfect time to get a part-time job. Most retail stores are looking for extra hands around this time, and extra cash never hurt anyone. If you haven’t already, begin applying for jobs wherever you’ll be residing at for the majority of the break. You may even be able to turn this into a seasonal job for the remainder of your college days.

 

  1. Buy your textbooks

Seasoned Ospreys know the importance of buying your textbooks ahead of time. If you want to avoid the crazy lines at the bookstore, your best bet is to buy your books during the break. If you aren’t sure what books you need, you can always email your professor about the required materials for the semester. Another option would be going to your course schedule on Mywings, scrolling to the bottom and then clicking on “purchase books at efollett.” This would load all of your required materials for the semester on the bookstore’s website.

 

  1. Research your classes for spring

If you haven’t already, ask about the professors you are signed up for the Spring. Utilize professor rating sites and online instructional satisfaction questionnaires on Mywings, to be sure you want to stay in the courses you are signed up for. The ISQ’s on Mywings are an excellent resource where you can see how other students rated the professor and the grade distributions of students who took the class. There’s nothing worse than having to drop a class because you were blindsided about how difficult a course was. Ask around to upperclassmen in your major to gain insight on the class, it’s structure and the professor before the add/drop deadline.

 

  1. Workout

Summer bodies are made in the winter. Use these weeks off to get a headstart on a new diet or workout regime that’s probably going to end up on your new year’s resolution list anyhow. You can start by ading in a morning jog followed by simple exercises you can do in your room such as squats or lunges. Spring break is right around the corner from the beginning of the semester, don’t be the only friend with a t-shirt on in your beach pictures.

 

  1. Reevaluate

Take this time to reevaluate your goals. Determine whether the goals you previously set are still relevant and establish new ones. For example, if you want to become a pediatrician, however being a biology major isn’t cutting it, you might want to begin exploring different major options. Talk to your adviser, shadow someone in the field, or scan career websites to analyze whether your career goals a matching up with what you are currently doing.

Classes don’t begin back until January 7th, so there’s still enough time to get some tasks out of the way before you’re back to studying for tests.

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Roderica Johnson

UNF

I am a senior communications student at the University of North Florida. I am a first generation college student and have tried to make the most of my undergraduate experience, through participating in as many activities I can including dance, honor societies and our campus ministry. Through my blog and articles, I hope to help college-aged women reach their full potential, whether that be figuring out their sense of style, or navigating through college.