#HonorsProblems: Going Home for Winter Break

This post was written by Peer Advisor Naomi, a CCAS junior studying biology and English.  
Finals have finished, your bags are packed and you’re about to say bye to your friends for the first time since you met them. You get some snacks for the road and head out of the dorms for three weeks.
You try to control your excitement as you imagine sleeping in your bed, seeing your family and probably doing no school work during this much needed vacation.
Except you’re forgetting one important thing: The freedom that you have enjoyed for four months won’t be present over these next three weeks. You will be living with your family again, following their rules, and doing what they say. It’s difficult, considering you have been able to decide your own curfew for the past four months … will you be able to adjust?
When I left West Hall mid-December to make the (soOoOo incredibly long) trek back to Mclean, VA, I had to keep reminding myself that being back home after four months of college would be familiar, but different. And that is not necessarily a bad thing! There would obviously be great home-cooked food and a lot of Netflix with the family. My parents are very understanding and gave me a lot of freedom in high school (hi Mom!), but when I came back for break, I was expected to adhere to rules and still do the same chores as I did as a high school senior. I still had to tell my family where I was going before I headed out for the evening and was told I had to be back before 12. All these rules were not difficult to follow, but make sure you are able to sit down with your family before winter break is well under way to discuss guidelines. Will you have to check in with your siblings or parents before taking the car? Does your mom want you home on the Sundays for family dinners? The earlier you have this conversation, the more stress free your winter break will be!
Family time is awesome, sometimes. That’s why we have our friends back home: for complaining, laughing, crying and everything in between. Hopefully, some of your friends from high school will be in town at the same time and you all will get to catch up! Don’t feel disheartened if your friends seem to have changed a little bit. You never know: maybe they think you have changed as well! College is an essential part of finding ourselves. Through our various experiences and interests, we develop a personality by a combination of the new and the old. Talk about these new experiences and reminisce about the old with your friends. Grab coffee at your favorite place in town or go bowling at the neighborhood bowling alley! Things may not be the same as high school, but nothing is stopping you from having a good time like before.
Winter break will always be bittersweet, but it is all about attitude. If you approach break with a general idea of what you want to do, whether it be catch up on sleep, friends, family or all three, you will feel much more energized come spring semester when it is time to crack down for class!