Being that this is my first semester of my first year of college I have experienced a lot of firsts; living away from home, doing laundry in a community laundry room, eating dining hall food every day, and the list goes on. One first that I never really thought about prior to college was the start of the holiday season away from home. When it comes to Christmas, for me at least, I begin my prepping December 26th of the year prior. My Christmas music playlist sits patiently at the bottom of my Spotify teasing me to break out WHAM!'s "Last Christmas" in the middle of July.
I live for the moment my dad pulls all the decorations out from the eve of my bedroom and we start planning the assault that is decorating. But this year, for the first time, Halloween came and went and suddenly it was almost that time of the year again. Without my parents to drag the boxes of Christmas decorations from the attic the transition from Halloween to the holiday season, it went almost unnoticed. Slowly other rooms surrounding my dorm began to put up holiday decorations signaling the beginning of the season, but for the most part, it just didn't feel the same.
Coming home for Thanksgiving to find that my parents had already put our tree up so it would be here when I got back home was such an amazing surprise; my house had started to fill up with decorations and it just felt like the holiday season. After returning back to school for the final stretch of classes and exams, My suitemates and I did our best to add some decorations and holiday cheer to the room. My roommate even went as far as to construct a tree out of string lights and hang ornaments with our names on them that she made. School definitely started to feel more in the holiday spirit after break, a room nearby even covered their door entirely in wrapping paper and topped it with a wreath. My suite drew names for Secret Santa and finally my home away from home felt like it should around the holidays.
As break came closer and closer we also realized that the holidays meant my roommates and I wouldn't see each other for an entire month. All these people I had grown accustomed to seeing every day for the last three months would soon be in their houses celebrating with their families. As excited as I am to go home and enjoy the holidays, I can't imagine fathom how much I am going to miss them. This break, while enojoyable to be free with classes and exams, will definitely be tough without my second family.
