It’s that time of year again! If love is in the air during Valentine’s Day, midterm stress, hard football losses, and wishy-washy weather plague the air during Fall. If you’re not doing anything fun this fall in College Station, the chances are, you might just want to go home.
I’m not going to lie, I spent the first half of my fall semester seriously homesick. Whenever I left, I thought the feeling would pass, and I would learn to love college almost instantly! Yeah…no. I called my mom almost every day, I cried more than a few tears, and I even took a trip up to Ft. Worth to visit my grandmother, just to feel at home again (hi, Grandma Dorothy!). But, I did have something to look forward to: my parents bought plane tickets to fly me home over Fall Break.
The “Before”
Honestly, I was a bit scared to fly home. About a month ago, I had a relationship end with a guy back home, and I didn’t take it well. I was so afraid that I would see him, one of his friends, or one of my friends who would want to talk about it. The week leading up to my flight, I was excited to see family, but I was so anxious that something was going to happen. This anxiety wasn’t a good look on me, in hindsight.
The flight
On the actual flight home, I was an emotional wreck. Once again, not the cutest look on me. Imagine looking to your left, and you see a teenage girl crying while looking out the window like she just watched My Girl (1991) for the first time. Once we landed, I was somehow alright. I got my luggage, found my mom and my sister, and we drove home.
The Relaxation
One of the things I looked forward to most about being home was being back in a room by myself. After months of living with a roommate and a twin bed, I missed my normal-sized personal space. Even though I had some of the best sleeps of my whole life, I surprisingly didn’t spend a lot of time in my room. I spent time with my parents (fifteen year-old Allison would be mortified) and even watched the Aggie football game (at least we’re not UT)! Even though I value every moment I spend alone in CSTAT, I didn’t want to leave the room whenever I was with my family.
The Project
Finally, one of the coolest (and actually interesting) things I did on break was make my sorority paddle. (Also, in the last month, I joined a sorority. Life’s weird like that.) If you’re unfamiliar, all new sorority girls decorate paddles to give to their “big sisters” in the sorority. After exploring all of Hobby Lobby twice, we found all the things we needed, and I actually really liked how it turned out! As someone who has never been neat or artistic, this paddles came out looking like it was made by someone who actually possesses those qualities! I’m calling that a win.
The Pleasant Surprises
In the four days I was home, I randomly ran into three friends I used to work with! Even though it was all small talk and simple conversation, they really help eased my mind with the whole dumb breakup drama. (Reminder not to date people that your parents don’t like!) I haven’t talked to them in a while, but I think I will now.
The “After”
Overall, I needed this break, badly. I’ve spent a lot of time in college annoyed at weirdos who don’t know how to behave in public. But, somehow, spending my break with a bunch of weirdos who make horrible puns in the Hobby Lobby checkout line, accidentally trip the alarms at AT&T, or brag about how much money they saved at Subway with their coupons, made me the most relaxed I’ve been since August. They remind me that in such an independent time in my life, I’m never alone.