Now that my final exams and papers are completed, I can finally enjoy a month away from campus. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fun first semester and I learned a lot about myself, but it was a hard life to adapt to and I definitely deserve some time off from classes and homework.

The way I look at it, I have two options for break.

1) Do (literally) nothing

2) Be (somewhat) productive

While I do think both are practical, one is probably smarter than the other. I do deserve a break, but, at the same time, I can’t let myself become a complete couch potato. My time off should be a mix of productivity and relaxation.

So here’s what I’m looking forward to doing during Winter Break:

1. Seeing my family

I may fight with them a lot, but I still love my parents and siblings more than anything in this world. I know for a fact we’ll be playing a lot of Trivial Pursuit during the month I’m home.

2. Binge-watching TV shows

I have a long list of shows on Netflix that I need to watch (Black Mirror, The Crown, The Punisher, Scandal, Friends From College, and so on), and I hope to make at least a small dent in this list.

3. Reading (a lot of) books

Reading is my favorite way to pass time and I’m always looking for a good book. Since I’m a broke college student, I like finding websites that offer free books for me to indulge in.

4. Searching for a spring semester job

Last semester I was on the video staff for the football team, but I was only a volunteer so I wasn’t getting paid. And that was perfectly fine. I received a lot of free clothes and was able to stand on the sideline during home football games, as well as gain valuable experience in the sports industry. I’m still on the video staff as a volunteer (there’s a chance I’ll start getting paid Fall 2018), but I won’t be filming any football until late spring.

But being a broke college student – for the lack of a better word – sucks.

For that reason, I need to find a paying job to fill the void and start saving money. I’m hoping to find a job that involves a career I’m interested in, but, honestly, any job is a good job. I’ll still gain experience and improve certain skills.

5. Developing new routines

Looking back on this past semester, I didn’t really have much of a routine. I did homework whenever I felt like it and went to sleep at odd hours. And, honestly, that worked well for me. I only had four classes, a volunteer job (that I only worked two, maybe three, times a week), and a few student organizations. I had plenty of time to slack off and get away with it.

Next semester, however, is a different story. I’m going to be incredibly busy and I’m going to need some kind of routine to keep me from falling behind.

6. Catching up on sleep

Aforementioned, I went to sleep at odd hours during first semester. Some nights I’d go to bed at 10 or 11 p.m., while other nights I’d be up until four a.m. reading a book. On average, I probably got around 5 or 6 hours of sleep every night.

My goal for break is to try to go to bed early and then wake up at a respectable hour. Hopefully I’ll be getting at least seven, if not eight, hours of sleep each night.

7. Going to basketball games

I plan on going to a few of my high school’s home basketball games. Mostly because I like basketball, but also so I can see some people from high school that I haven’t seen in a while.

8. Writing and/or blogging

I love writing, but I have a lot of work to do if I want to become a really good writer in the future and (maybe) make a career out of it.

And it all starts with simply putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard).

9. Learning code

Code has always been something I was interested in learning. I never had the chance to take a class during high school, though, because I had other classes I needed to take to graduate, and I never knew where to start online.

Recently, I’ve been searching the web and found a few sites (Codecademy, Free Code Camp, and Codewars) with good reviews.

10. Learning a foreign language

I took four years of Spanish in high school and I really enjoyed it. I decided not to take any foreign language classes while in college, but I’d still like to stay somewhat fluent.

I haven’t been very on top of it lately, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten a lot, but I plan on changing that during break.

11. Applying for scholarships

College is expensive. I can only work so much while in school. I’m broke (have I reiterated that enough yet?).

And what’s better than free money? Absolutely nothing.

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Thank you for reading! Be sure to keep an eye out for my next post! And if you’d like to see more of my everyday life as an Iowa student, feel free to follow me on social media. Go Hawks!

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