First-Year Student Journals : Nicole : Journal 6

2 January 2003

I made the assumption that Thanksgiving would be a sneak peek at what the winter break would have in store for me. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. Maybe my previous visit home had left me with some pretty high hopes for what winter would bring, or maybe the said break‚ was long enough for some pretty harsh realities to surface.

The first week I found myself relieved and happy that my first semester had come to a close. Bumping into acquaintances, and comparing notes about experiences with old friends brought forth a comfortable and warm atmosphere in which to celebrate the holidays. However, soon that high wore off. It became difficult for me to adjust to life back home. It wasn’t that the rules were strict, or that I didn’t have enough privacy. It was more like I was resentful of the fact that after adjusting to my life as a college student, I was now supposed to, in the blink of an eye, shut that part of me off.

I talked to a friend about this whole new concept of adjusting every time a holiday rolled around. I expected some comforting words, like, “Oh, it gets so much easier, Nicole.” But I got “I heard it only gets stranger and more bizarre.” I began to think that maybe coming home wasn’t for everyone, that I had done all the growing I needed to do at home and that a month was just too much. I talked to some friends about that as well, and we all came to the same conclusion. We wanted to go back to school. Well, maybe not classes so much, but just to our respective “homes away from home.” We all sat back and wowed at one another, and when we were done doing that, we compared notes on what we missed and why we missed it. New friends, new places, new things to do, we missed it all.

The second week of break was over and now all that was left was—well, two more weeks. I was going around feeling pretty bored, and also acting very smug about how well I had adjusted to my new life, and how much I had “grown out” of where I used to live. Yet, all that arrogance was shoved right in my face not too long after it began to surface. Certain events made me see that I still needed some guidance and some sort of structure.

You see, I came to the conclusion that maybe break serves multiple purposes. Winter break gives you time to

Cool your brain before you burn it out again.

See family and friends who are a big part of your life.

Pat yourself on the back for surviving your first semester.

Come up with reasons why you love where you go to school, so that you can pull out the list later when you get homesick after eating bad dorm food.

Realize that no matter how much you think you’ve grown, you have much more growing to do.

However, wouldn’t three weeks be more than enough?

Feel free to send me an e-mail message.



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	2 January 2003 I made the assumption that Thanksgiving would be a sneak peek at what the winter break would have in store for me. Unfortunately, I was mistaken. Maybe my previous visit home had left me with some pretty high hopes for what winter would bring, or maybe the said break‚ was long enough for some pretty harsh realities to surface. The first week I found myself relieved and happy that my first semester had come to a close. Bumping into acquaintances, and comparing notes about experiences with old friends brought forth a comfortable and warm atmosphere in which to celebrate the holidays. However, soon that high wore off. It became difficult for me to adjust to life back home. It wasn’t that the rules were strict, or that I didn’t have enough privacy. It was more like I was resentful of the fact that after adjusting to my life as a college student, I was now supposed to, in the blink of an eye, shut that part of me off. I talked to a friend about this whole new concept of adjusting every time a holiday rolled around. I expected some comforting words, like, “Oh, it gets so much easier, Nicole.” But I got “I heard it only gets stranger and more bizarre.” I began to think that maybe coming home wasn’t for everyone, that I had done all the growing I needed to do at home and that a month was just too much. I talked to some friends about that as well, and we all came to the same conclusion. We wanted to go back to school. Well, maybe not classes so much, but just to our respective “homes away from home.” We all sat back and wowed at one another, and when we were done doing that, we compared notes on what we missed and why we missed it. New friends, new places, new things to do, we missed it all. The second week of break was over and now all that was left was—well, two more weeks. I was going around feeling pretty bored, and also acting very smug about how well I had adjusted to my new life, and how much I had “grown out” of where I used to live. Yet, all that arrogance was shoved right in my face not too long after it began to surface. Certain events made me see that I still needed some guidance and some sort of structure. You see, I came to the conclusion that maybe break serves multiple purposes. Winter break gives you time to Cool your brain before you burn it out again. See family and friends who are a big part of your life. Pat yourself on the back for surviving your first semester. Come up with reasons why you love where you go to school, so that you can pull out the list later when you get homesick after eating bad dorm food. Realize that no matter how much you think you’ve grown, you have much more growing to do. However, wouldn’t three weeks be more than enough? Feel free to send me an e-mail message.