For midyears, the first break is exciting and confusing. The Monday before break feels like any other Monday, the classes are too early no matter when they are, and the exhaustion is evident. By the end of the day however, there is a clear change in the air; a feeling of anticipation, of giddiness that didn’t exist the previous week.
By Wednesday it’s clear that the change in the air is the mutual feeling of relief as break approaches. At this point, most midyears gain their second wind and start to question why we have break at all. Midyears are still in their “honeymoon phase” on this Wednesday, when they think that their friends are the most amazing humans to grace the earth and that work is still “do-able”.
The change between Wednesday and Thursday is a drastic one. Suddenly the work is too much, friends are beginning to seem slightly less angelic, and people begin going home. Those leaving on Friday start packing and suddenly miss their families.
Friday is a panic. People rushing through an already thinning campus as they try to check all the boxes off their To-Do Lists before it’s time to leave. There are hurried goodbyes and awkward hugs as suddenly all the midyears realize this will be their first time away from the nest that is the village.
As soon as midyears see their families for the first time they are filled with love and remember all the good times from being home. Then comes the realization that most friends from pre-Brandeis lives are still in school and dread begins to set in. “Why would anyone want to leave campus?” becomes the universal thought as homesickness sinks in but home has suddenly changed to Brandeis.
By the end of the week, panic again sits in as midyears realize that breaks don’t last forever and that homework will still be due the first class after returning to campus. The homework rush ensues and only stops once safely home in the Village and the reunions begin.