These upcoming weeks are the most stressful ones for most college students. I know that it doesn’t help when we continue writing about all of the stress in these articles, but we do it anyway. With everything that’s going on, it’s hard to get anything done. And that stinks.
The best thing to do is list everything that needs to be done before you head home for the holidays. Let’s do it together right now, just to make sure nothing important is forgotten in the chaos of the season.
1. Study for Finals
If you’re anything like me, you feel like the semester is over and class and schoolwork is the last thing on your mind right now. This is definitely not the most fun part of the season, but for a lot of people, their semester grades depend on their finals, so this category needs to be highly prioritized. I’m not suggesting you spend the next two weeks cramming in the library while everybody else in the world is getting into the festive holiday season, but I do recommend using morning and afternoon hours to knock out a bit of work each day. That way, you have the later part of the day to enjoy the more enjoyable aspects of this part of the semester.
2. Attend Holiday Parties
This is an absolutely necessary part of the season. Santa starts making his bar appearances, sometimes bringing elves along like he did Thursday night at one of our bars down here in Delaware. It’s hilarious seeing college-aged kids so excited to see Santa (childhood regression to the max).
In case you aren’t old enough to experience the bar scene, lots of people host holiday parties, many of whom request you attend wearing an ugly Christmas sweater. Don’t have one? Go down to Good Will and make the purchase; it’s fine if you only wear it once. Before graduating, it’s something everyone must experience.
3. Buy and Wrap Presents
It’s Christmas! It’s Hanukkah! It’s Kwanzaa! It doesn’t matter what you celebrate because you have gifts to buy no matter what, so do it! It’s a lot easier if you put a price cap on everything, like say $30 per present, no matter who it’s for. This allows you to save money and, as corny as it sounds, it’ll put the holiday spirit back into gift shopping because you’ll be forced to be more creative. If you get your school work out of the way in the morning, you can spend a couple afternoons at the mall or at local shops and get all of your gifts bought early. Then, you can watch ABC’s 25 Days of Christmas and wrap during the movies as a way to stay in the spirit. Check out our other posts if you’re stuck on what gifts to buy (or not buy) for people.
4. Register for Next Semester and Figure Out Your Life
By now, most schools have completed or are close to completing course registration for the spring semester, so this category isn’t as important as the others. It’s just a reminder that if you want an internship, or want to revise that resume or request permission into a class, now is the time to do it. Take a look at your planner and spend about an hour sending out e-mails and editing. Then you’ll have this category taken care of.
5. Pack
Hello, this is important. You’re going home for the holidays so obviously you need clothes. For me, packing is stressful. My advice is this: do your laundry about three or four days prior to going home, and then pack the day before. That way (because this always happens) when you remember things throughout the last day, you can easily throw them in. Don’t forget to pack the presents you’ve successfully bought and wrapped!
6. Say Goodbye to Your Friends
This is always the sad part. My best friend is graduating at the end of this semester and I am dreading the day I go home because that’ll be the last time we’ll both be students at Delaware. Of course he’ll visit and we’ll still be best friends, but it still stinks. Regardless of whether or not people are graduating, you have to make sure you say “adios” before you leave, considering it’ll be a while till you see them again.
7. Relax!
And lastly, breathe and enjoy everything. Listen to holiday music, go sledding, drive around looking at decorations, spend time with your family and loved one, and bake lots of yummy treats…that’s what makes holiday seasons so memorable.
