Balancing Your Break!
With Thanksgiving Break rapidly approaching (woohoo!!), I’m torn between wanting to use my free time to work ahead on assignments and wanting to relax and catch up with friends and family. On one hand, finals are about to get crazy, and I have three papers due when I get back from break! On the other, I haven’t been home or even seen my family since I left for Vandy in August. Caught between my heart telling me to catch up on sleep and watch Netflix for the entire break (so excited for the Gilmore Girls reunion!) and my brain reminding me that taking an entire week off from my studies could backfire with finals approaching, I decided to not choose between work and play but instead to be proactive and plan to balance my break!
Last year, I procrastinated all of my work until right before I went back to Vanderbilt, which made for a stressful break AND an even more stressful finals season. Never again. My agenda is my lifeline while I’m at school, and my key to having a balanced break is going to be remembering to use it while I’m at home too. I’ve already made a list of everything academic I need and want to accomplish over break and prioritized the items based on importance and due dates. I also divided these tasks out over the course of the week so that I’d still have time for the fun part of my break. I’m hoping that having a plan will stop me from constantly stressing about homework and being swamped towards the end of the week. Most importantly, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t stuck writing papers on Thanksgiving when I should be pigging out and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!
Now onto the fun part of my balanced break! On Friday night, my friends and I are breaking out of the VanderBubble to celebrate one of our friend’s birthdays with dinner at Satay (my absolute favorite, and it’s on the card!) and an attempt to conquer The Escape Room. I’m super excited for one stress-free night in Nashville before I head back to my big bed and home cooked meals.
Unlike me, a lot of my friends will be in town even longer for the Vanderbilt Ole Miss Game, which will be the last tailgate of the season (luckily I still have 12 tailgates left in my Vandy career).
When I get home, I plan on spending plenty of quality time with my parents, catching up with my friends, and cuddling with my dog. My small town is one of my favorite places in the world, and I can’t wait to grab lunch at all my favorite local restaurants and, since I live on the coast, be reunited with the beach. However, I think the highlight of my break, other than the Thanksgiving food, will be taking a road trip with my sister to her alma mater’s college football rivalry game! This is something we try to do almost every year, and I’m so excited to spend time with her before she returns to her life in the real world. We’re also deciding on a weekend for her to come visit me in the spring, and I can’t wait to show her my favorite parts of Nashville!
As for me, I’m hoping that my planned out, balanced break will lead to a relaxing and productive week! It’s tempting to want to kick back and relax while leaving the stresses of college life in Nashville, but don’t forget to balance your time with short work periods to make finals season much easier!