Is it over? Remarks on 5-week winter break

Freshmen Fifteen: Don’t let Bowdoin boot self-expression

Making the trek across campus is not always a simple task, especially when there’s a foot of snow on the ground. To survive Brunswick in the winter, one must have the proper gear. This includes a nice hat, a puffy coat, a pair of gloves (not mittens), but—most importantly—a pair of snow boots.
It’s nearly impossible to get across campus without being miserable if you don’t have the proper shoes. Trust me: I know, because I don’t have the proper shoes. Obtaining a pair of boots for winter has been on my agenda for quite some time now. In fact, I’ve been mentally preparing for harsh conditions since September. And yet, I can’t seem to commit.
To buy Bean Boots, or not to buy Bean Boots? It’s a bit silly, but this conundrum has been plaguing me for months. So much so that buying a decent pair of snow boots has become somewhat of an insurmountable task.

Freshmen Fifteen

Is it over? Remarks on 5-week winter break

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

January 25, 2013

Getting back into the old college routine for the first time in a month was a bit of a strange feeling. I’d been away for weeks, but once I was back, I felt that I had never gone. Everything seemed just like I left it. As I walked through campus, I was reunited with many familiar faces, and received many wonderful yet awkward hugs.

Then came the seemingly never-ending small talk. I’m pretty sure that every single conversation that I’ve had this last week has started the exact same way: “Hey! How was your break?” “Good, and yours?” “Good.” In fact, it might have been impossible to start chatting any differently.

And yet, even though this is how almost every conversation I had this week began, every time I answered in this manner I couldn’t help feel that my response of “good” was not quite adequate. This break was long. Really long. So when friends asked me how my break was, I short-circuited. It took too much thinking to sufficiently answer the question, and a one word generic answer was all I could muster.

How was my break? Well, which week? Week one was exciting. The holidays were near and I received a lot of kick-ass sweaters. Not to mention one beautifully crafted hand-knit scarf sent from my roommate. My mom made delicious pies and I avoided all potentially awkward mistletoe situations. Week two was also fun. I finally had the chance to catch up with old friends and made a resolution to spend my Polar Points more wisely this semester (we’ll see how that pans out). Week three was a bit of a lull. I went on vacation and got sick, so I began spending a lot of quality time with my brother’s Netflix account. (By the way, I highly recommend Breaking Bad.)

Week four was interesting in how uninteresting it was. Unlike some of my more productive peers who took advantage of an internship or job, I decided to do absolutely zilch with my break, and by week four the boredom started setting in.

In high school, winter break was a precious time. For a mere two weeks, I didn’t have to worry about papers or tests. I had the chance to do absolutely nothing and it felt fabulous, for doing nothing is something I do best.

And yet, a whole month of doing nothing began to feel a little unfulfilling. By week four my siblings had abandoned me, and most of my friends were back at school. I was all by my lonesome. Thus, to occupy my time I weirdly got involved with domestic activities. I began baking, cleaning my house, and running errands.

As a result, by the end of week four, I started missing this place. And missing school was something that I never thought possible before Bowdoin. I missed hanging out with my college friends and—call me a nerd—but I actually missed some of my classes. Thus, although my break was indeed “good,” I’ve got to admit, it’s good to be back.

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