As soon as Holiday Ball is over, all Holton students know that Winter Break is right around the corner. Whether the last week of school before break is full of holiday parties or deadlines, we all can look forward to a restful couple of weeks to recharge and spend with family. This year our break is a whopping 17 (!!) days long, so I thought I would break down my favorite parts of Winter Break to give everyone some ideas of what to do with all that time!
In my opinion, the best day of Winter Break is the day we get out of school. Having the whole break ahead of you is one of the best feelings in the world. Right at 3:30, I bolt out of the classroom in an effort to get home as soon as possible. At home, I put my backpack in the most remote corner of the house, where I leave it until the night before school starts again. This brings me to possibly the best part of winter break: not having school work! Sometimes Holton’s rigorous curriculum can consume my life (and a lot of students’ lives), leaving me with very little time to focus on myself. During the school year, especially October and November, I often find myself realizing how much I took the summer months for granted. When winter break rolls around, I like to treat it as a “Summer part Two,” where I do everything that I miss about summer. I take my dog for extra walks, make myself lattes, read (for fun!), and sleep a solid 10-12 hours a night.
Once I’ve indulged in the first full day of break, I like planning out my daily schedules for the rest of the days. Each night before I go to bed, I write a quick, bulleted list of what I want to accomplish the next day in terms of self-care, organization, or chores. This two-three minute activity does so much for my productivity, and without my planner, I would probably lie in bed all winter break. Over the break I try to do at least one big closet cleanout, finish a book I’ve been reading, clean/organize my room and journal every day. I’ll admit that I do not always do everything on this list, but it would be even less likely to be completed if I didn’t use my planner.
Another perk of winter break is spending time with family. My usual daily schedule involves going to school for eight hours, getting home and going to my room to do homework, having dinner, and going to bed. There usually aren’t many spare minutes for spending time with my family, so I love using winter break as an opportunity to start watching a new show with my parents or go out to dinner together. We also usually get to see our extended family during the holidays, and it is always a blast catching up with my cousins and talking about the year we’ve had.
There are so many aspects of winter break that I am looking forward to this year, that this article could go on and on. I hope everyone is as excited as I am to have these upcoming weeks to celebrate the holidays and relax!
Cover image creator: ADVENTURE_PHOTO GETTY IMAGES