Happy holidays everyone!
Winter break and the Christmas holiday season can often be an awkward time for both international and domestic students who are staying on campus. Obviously, a big part of the challenge is staying at Wes while most of our friends depart for home after finals. However, that is compounded by the fact that most of the university closes until January 4th. This results in, among other things, no food on campus, limited library opening hours, and no mail! (I didn’t realize this! If I did, I would have scheduled some of my Amazon orders earlier.)
For winter break last year, I dug into my pre-college job savings and decided I would travel for a bit to experience what Christmas would be like in larger cities. However, due to odd circumstances, I ended up spending Christmas week at a small but great hostel in Toronto (after a 11ish hour bus ride from NYC). As if New England winters weren’t cold enough, right!? Anyway, after being miserable and cold over Christmas, I decided to take advantage of a shockingly cheap flight down to San Francisco, where I spent the remainder of break before winter session in perfectly mild weather with my girlfriend. We even managed a beach day!
This year though, I’ve decided to stay on campus. As my friends started to leave, I quickly realized that boredom posed the main issue, and after spending a full day in my room not really doing much besides recuperating from finals, I set about crafting a daily schedule that broke my day down into three parts. They were (1) exercise, (2) course work, and (3) leisure activities, corresponding to my mornings, afternoons, and evenings respectively.
Of course, taking a winter session course cuts the boredom of winter break down by quite a bit. Running from Jan 6th to 19th, these full credit courses demand most of your time when they start, and even a little bit before then! Homework due before class ensures that work is never too far away from your mind over break (unfortunately), which can run the risk of fatiguing you even before spring courses starts. Though I’ve definitely had friends who’ve felt that way, I’ve personally loved my previous winter session course (Data Management), and I don’t foresee that happening this year either (Programming). As always in Wesleyan, go with what you’re genuinely interested in.
All in all, staying at Wes over winter break hasn’t been too bad. In fact, it’s been surprisingly social! For example, just a few nights ago, some students held a potluck in the Butts. Additionally, I’ve been hanging out with my friends that stayed, and there’s a weekly shuttle that brings us to the nearest grocery store. Which brings me to my next point:
If you don’t already, learn how to cook for yourself
It saves so much money over having to constantly get delivery, or dine in, at restaurants twice or even thrice a day. Plus, if you’re hungry at a really odd hour, you don’t want to be stuck without options… Speaking of the grocery store, I’ve now got to catch said shuttle. Apologies if this entry seems a bit rushed (it is). Hopefully I can revisit it over the next few days while I try to sort out my summer internships… We’ll see!
Happy holidays and have a wonderful new year!
Zach
Winter break and the Christmas holiday season can often be an awkward time for both international and domestic students who are staying on campus. Obviously, a big part of the challenge is staying at Wes while most of our friends depart for home after finals. However, that is compounded by the fact that most of the university closes until January 4th. This results in, among other things, no food on campus, limited library opening hours, and no mail! (I didn’t realize this! If I did, I would have scheduled some of my Amazon orders earlier.)
For winter break last year, I dug into my pre-college job savings and decided I would travel for a bit to experience what Christmas would be like in larger cities. However, due to odd circumstances, I ended up spending Christmas week at a small but great hostel in Toronto (after a 11ish hour bus ride from NYC). As if New England winters weren’t cold enough, right!? Anyway, after being miserable and cold over Christmas, I decided to take advantage of a shockingly cheap flight down to San Francisco, where I spent the remainder of break before winter session in perfectly mild weather with my girlfriend. We even managed a beach day!
This year though, I’ve decided to stay on campus. As my friends started to leave, I quickly realized that boredom posed the main issue, and after spending a full day in my room not really doing much besides recuperating from finals, I set about crafting a daily schedule that broke my day down into three parts. They were (1) exercise, (2) course work, and (3) leisure activities, corresponding to my mornings, afternoons, and evenings respectively.
Of course, taking a winter session course cuts the boredom of winter break down by quite a bit. Running from Jan 6th to 19th, these full credit courses demand most of your time when they start, and even a little bit before then! Homework due before class ensures that work is never too far away from your mind over break (unfortunately), which can run the risk of fatiguing you even before spring courses starts. Though I’ve definitely had friends who’ve felt that way, I’ve personally loved my previous winter session course (Data Management), and I don’t foresee that happening this year either (Programming). As always in Wesleyan, go with what you’re genuinely interested in.
All in all, staying at Wes over winter break hasn’t been too bad. In fact, it’s been surprisingly social! For example, just a few nights ago, some students held a potluck in the Butts. Additionally, I’ve been hanging out with my friends that stayed, and there’s a weekly shuttle that brings us to the nearest grocery store. Which brings me to my next point:
If you don’t already, learn how to cook for yourself
It saves so much money over having to constantly get delivery, or dine in, at restaurants twice or even thrice a day. Plus, if you’re hungry at a really odd hour, you don’t want to be stuck without options… Speaking of the grocery store, I’ve now got to catch said shuttle. Apologies if this entry seems a bit rushed (it is). Hopefully I can revisit it over the next few days while I try to sort out my summer internships… We’ll see!
Happy holidays and have a wonderful new year!
Zach