You made it. Way to go! Whether it was your first term as a college student, somewhere in between, or your final first term, you made it! Now, we enter the second term of the school year: winter term.

As a sophomore, I speak from (very little) experience-- winter term is pretty rough. Not because of the course load, but because of the breaks we have. Winter term last year felt like it took an eternity to finally be over with. Don’t get me wrong, I love breaks, who doesn’t? Going home, being as lazy as possible, seeing family, and being in your own bed and not having to worry about classes. But these breaks are a bit of a disadvantage on a trimester system that we are on.

First, let’s talk about Thanksgiving break. Going home, eating as much food as possible, and watching football. However, being on the trimester system, it’s a bit rough, but not horrible. We get back to campus after Fall break, only to go right back home for about 4-5 days after being back on campus for a week and a half. This isn’t too bad, I mean, it’s only been about a week, so that’s what, maybe 3 classes of each course? Not too terrible, but it is a bit rough going back home and then right back to campus after a few days.

Now let’s talk about Christmas break... that’s where it gets rough. You come back from campus after Thanksgiving, get back into your classes for the next 3 weeks, have midterms (which are always awful) and then again, go back home. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas break. I love being home, seeing my family, doing all of our Christmas traditions, celebrating and then heading into the New Year. But this break is a bit rough on the college student here at Augie. Not only did you just finish up midterms, but you’re most likely going to forget everything you’ve learned over the 3 week break, which is normal. You celebrate Christmas, party into the New Year, and forget most of the information you learned and tested over. Christmas break is great, but you have to be prepared for that gap of 3 weeks.

To the freshmen: Get ready for a rough and long term. Winter term can seem like it takes an eternity to finally be over due to the breaks we have. Like I already said, breaks are great and I love them, but they’re not always beneficial for us. Christmas break is wonderful, but it can totally mess with your mind and make you forget your normal school routine, and all the information you’ve learned in your classes. Get ready for a long term, but enjoy your time at home. It's few and far now that you get to be home for so long. To everyone else, get ready for another long term, but now we at least know how to deal with it!