Your last final ends. You've already packed up your
belongings and can’t wait to get home. Your friend drops you off at the
airport. The crying baby behind you and the deodorant-less man to your right on
the plane do not even faze you. You’re going home for the holidays! Winter
break. Movies, cookies, friends you haven’t seen in awhile, extended family
gatherings, and no schoolwork. Nothing to do but relax.
Fast-forward three weeks. You've caught up on every TV show
you managed to miss out on during the semester, you successfully creeped on all
859 of your Facebook friends, and posted some funny tweets that got a favorite
or two; you are now 15 pounds heavier and you’re sitting on your coach
‘relaxing.’ This relaxation turns into a WTH moment as you realize there are
still two weeks left of break and you have nothing to do. Your friends start to
head back to school, your family goes back to work, and you sit on that dang
couch you've sunken into at this point, watching reruns of Friends to pass the
time, wiping off the cookie crumbs on your chest. There aren't even any more
cookies.
Don’t let this be you. Relax, yes. Give up all priorities
and motivation, along with basic hygiene practices in an effort to relax, no.
At least have a backup plan to help pass some inevitable downtime. Maybe a
household project? A work out plan? Better yet, how about some preparation for
the next year? Last resort it may be, but it could really set a solid
foundation for the next semester.
- Update your resume.
- Create a LinkedIn profile.
- Order some business cards.
- Look up some possible job offers or internship opportunities that interest you.
Try and hit the ground running when you come back to UT! I
hope everyone has an incredible Holiday break, and good luck on finals! I’ll be
bothering you with more blog posts in 2013!