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The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter.

 This semester has flown by! I feel like I’ve done so much and experienced so many new things. I am excited for the spring semester. I have a habit of taking 18 credit hours, which seems like a lot, but I don’t usually notice it until finals when I realize how many tests, papers, and projects I have to do to complete the semester. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. I manage my time well and can manage my health to the best of my ability. I have to say that I will never take a once-a-week class again if I can help it. My 2:30-5 pm Intro to Philosophy class dragged on every Monday and very slowly turned into a bit of a study hall where I would work on any classwork I hadn’t completed yet. The professor was nice, but he got sidetracked frequently, often talking about his life more than the class content. For as much as I enjoyed this past fall semester, I am also incredibly excited to have a break. Here are some of the top things I’m looking forward to doing over winter break. 

  1. Gingerbread Houses

My mom bought some fun gingerbread houses, and although I am awful at putting them together, it is incredibly delicious and fun to complete. We have an M&M gingerbread house village and a doghouse, which I will be forcing my brother, his girlfriend, and my boyfriend to complete.  

  1.  Read a book

I’ve been dying to read a book that is not related to the many English classes I took. If we count the books I’ve read this semester for classes, I’ve read at least nine different books. I absolutely love reading and loved most of the books, but I am on the slower side of a reader and would like to read something that is not tied to an essay or quick write. A fun little book, curled up with hot chocolate is in my winter break future. 

  1. Spending time with friends and family

This is a little bit of a given, especially considering the holiday season. My friends from high school will all be home and I simply can’t wait to see them. This semester has been a whirlwind of different events, making it difficult for our schedules to align to see each other as often as last year. So, I am excited to do fun winter activities with my friends and family while I’m home. It is always very healing and peaceful.  

  1. Puzzling 

It’s starting to be a winter tradition between me and my momm to puzzle when I am home for winter break. Last year we completed four puzzles over break. I get sucked into completing the tiny details of the puzzle and it becomes a whole family event that takes up the entire dining room table. My mom has bought three puzzles for this upcoming break, and I cannot wait to get started. 

  1. Sledding 

This one is a horrible idea. Mostly because I gave up on sledding down hills since I accidentally lined myself up with a ramp that the older middle school and high school aged kids had made at my elementary school when I was in 3rd grade. Nothing could have convinced me that it was a ramp when I lined myself up to go down the hill, but the pounding headache after whooshing up in the air and thudding on the ground proved me wrong. The best part was after a five-minute recovery I yelled up to my dad, “Dad, you were right! It WAS a ramp!”. I think it would be fun, just maybe not my elementary school hill… Maybe this will get changed to building a snowman or something.

  1. Finish/Catch Up on “Abbott Elementary” 

Winter break is about relaxing and doing basically nothing, which is something that sounds nice in my head, but is actually a very difficult task for me to accept. I recently got into the show “Abbott Elementary”, part from recommendation and part from seeing a few funny clips on TikTok. I got hooked, I just don’t have the time to binge like I would want to. Currently, I’m on Season 2, Episode 19 of the four seasons on the show (on Hulu). 

  1. Bowling 

Technically, this was put into my head when my brother and his girlfriend dangled the idea of a family bowling night, only for it to be abandoned over Thanksgiving break. I am a wild card when it comes to bowling, sometimes there’s gutter balls, sometimes there’s spares, sometimes it is one singular pin. I enjoy being a little unpredictable though, especially when you compare my usual predictable nature.

I’m sure there will be other tasks mixed in like baking cookies, cleaning my room, laundry, and shoveling snow with my family. This little bucket list will remind me to relax just a little bit alongside all the other tasks I have. I hope you have a warm and happy holidays and that we both have a fun and relaxing break!  

Ella is a new writer/member of the St. Bonaventure Her Campus Chapter. She plans on writing pieces that cover music, literature, TV and Movies, and the happenings of her life here at SBU. Ella is a sophomore Adolescent Education Major with a concentration in English. She enjoyed doing New Visions Education during her senior year of high school, which gave her a small experience of observing middle and high school classrooms. She has enjoyed exploring all of the clubs and opportunities SBU has to offer, and continues to do so by joining Her Campus, volunteering at the SPCA, and as a member of the Bonaventure Education Association (BEA). Outside of classes and Her Campus, Ella can be found studying, reading, or outside soaking up the sun (whenever it’s an option to “photosynthesize”). Ella also loves chatting with friends as a part of her not-so-quick study breaks.