Weather Your College Break At Home

Tips for Enjoying the Time Off this Holiday Season

Feeling uneasy about going home for a few weeks? You’re not alone.

Many students find it difficult to leave their day-to-day college routine and go back home for the holidays. There may not be any fun stuff to do in town or your college friends may all be in other cities.

Don’t get the wrong idea. We’re not saying that spending time with family is a bad experience, only that it can leave a student feeling homesick from their new home, college. Spending the whole time at the family house can be depressing compared to the exciting, fast-paced, and social college atmosphere.

Catch up with your family first. Tell them all the great things you’ve been doing while at school, then use these tips when you start feeling cramped inside the house:

1. Earn money: Work while you’re home on break. You have a set schedule, you’re out of the house and you earn money doing it. Here are some in-demand places to work:

• Bars, restaurants and caterers
• Bakeries and coffee shops
• Florists, garden centers and Christmas tree farms
• Ski resorts
• Boutiques and chain stores (pretty much all retail)
• Pet-sitting—you can work for yourself or for a business.

2. Volunteer locally or overseas: Why not help others with your spare time? Local and international short-term volunteer opportunities are available. These provide a win-win situation for you and for others in need. Consider these volunteer situations for the holidays:

• Take a spot with an international volunteer organization: participate in a short-term volunteer program outside the U.S.
• Hospital-visit with patients, especially children that are hospital bound for the holidays.
• Nursing home
• Animal shelter
• Mission or homeless shelter
• Meals on Wheels or Toys for Tots are in dire need of volunteers at Christmas
• Ask your church pastor, minister, preacher, rabbi, or priest for any volunteer opps available.

3. Hang out using your spare change: Relax, watch the time pass, and strike up conversations at some low to no-cost venues:

• Public library
• Bookstore (Barnes and Noble, Borders)
• The mall (window shopping only)
• Coffee shop
• Public park

4. Consider alternatives to going “home”: For some students, home is not an inviting place at all for a variety of reasons. Guess what? You’re an adult and can make your own choice about where you’re willing to spend your hard-earned time off. Here are some alternatives:

• Stay on campus and do your own thing.
• Stay with a favorite family relative if you have one—an aunt or grandparent, an independent sibling, a parent that lives outside the home.
• Go home for the holidays with a friend from school if you’ve been invited.

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