I’m currently sitting on a Coach bus on my way back to campus from fall break. The Notre Dame alumni club in my hometown (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) sponsors a bus to take ND/SMC students to and from Pittsburgh for breaks, which literally is the best thing ever since there’s no way my parents would drive 6 hours to and from school just so I can spend a week on the couch with my dog.
And that’s exactly what I did this entire week: I lied on the couch with my dog. We lied there and binge-watched the first 3 Halloweentowns (can we all agree the 4th one sucks?), we lied there and caught up on Rob & Chyna (the most high-quality family TV show currently on), we lied there and watched ladies yell each other on The View (I agree with everything Candace Cameron Bure says). It was totally unproductive and totally wonderful.
I told myself I’d get a lot done this break. With all my spare time, I could finally get some internship applications done! I could get ahead in my classes! I would prewrite a bunch of Her Campus articles! Obviously since I’m writing this one while haphazardly balancing my laptop on my knees on this very bumpy bus, that didn’t happen. And I didn’t apply for a single internship or open my backpack once! Go me!
But the thing is, I’m really, really glad I just lied on the couch and watched trash TV. I really, really needed it. This semester has been an absolute killer, and I’ve already pulled more than one all-nighter in Trumper. All the stress of keeping up with the junior year workload, finding and applying to internships, and somehow managing to keep up some form of a social life all culminated together in one very stressful, very jam-packed midterm week. So for me, fall break felt like a well-deserved venti pumpkin spice Frappuccino after a long night in the library.
And besides, I did more than JUST lie on the couch. The countless shopping bags from Hollister, Old Navy, Gap and J.Crew currently taking up the seat next to me are proof of that. I mean, in the South Bend winter, a girl NEEDS multiple oversized sweaters and plain black leggings. It’s more essential than water. And no therapy clears the mind more than retail therapy.
So even though I’m a little mad at myself for not doing much homework or applying to any internships, and even though I know I’ll probably have to cram in a lot of reading tonight before classes start tomorrow, I’m GLAD I didn’t do anything over fall break, gosh darn it! Because if I had spent my fall break doing more than shopping, eating and trash-TV viewing, would it really have been a break at all?
I don’t need my philosophy professor to help answer that one.