10 Things About College You'll Miss on Break

There are a lot of great things about college - the level of independence that you get to experience - things that you lose when you go home for break. Sitting here in Virginia, I'm thinking about the things I miss about Boston and the MIT campus.

Read more for my list of 10 things about college you'll miss on break.

1. Going where you want to when you want to

If you are returning to the suburbs from the city, then you're probably missing the ability to walk wherever you want to. And maybe you've gotten roped into driving a sibling somewhere. You don't realize it while you're at college, but the ability to go where you want to when you want to without answering to your parents is really great.

2. Blasting music

Whatever the rules are for your dorm, I'm sure you've found the time and place to blast your music. Your home, however, probably doesn't have a place to blast music. And it's likely that even if you could blast your music, the commentary from parents and siblings would ruin the joy of airing your music out.

3. Cussing

I don't cuss that much, but I do relish the occasional swear when the moment is right. The moment is never right at home. Worse than that, if I slip out a cuss word a younger sibling will parrot it back a million times.

4. Seeing your college friends

This one is obvious. Even if you're in the same area, it's different to live with someone and see them all the time vs. schedule a meet up to get coffee. I really do miss seeing my college friends all the time and our little impromptu hot chocolate runs.

5. Avoiding the home-town politics

I found that college really changed my politics. I now have very different politics than the people in my home; even my approach to discussing politics has changed.

6. Getting tons of take out and snacks

Everyone knows that college kids eat a lot of snacks and take out. But when we return home, we get all sorts of sass for eating poorly. I don't think that the occasional snack is bad, but it's hard to convince the parents to buy it.

7. Waking up late

College might not start until noon, but the rest of the world wakes up to start at 9am. It can be a painful transition back to the early bird life, especially if you want to chat with college friends that live in a later time zone.

8. Leaving your room a mess

I don't think that I'm particularly mess but when I'm working on a project I do like to have my things spread out. Also, I'm one of those people that's opposed to making their bed. But when I'm at home, I have to make my bed and clean up all my things each night. If I don't there's a scolding waiting for me!

9. Wearing whatever clothes you want

I do love different gyaru, mori and lolita fashions, but no one at home knows what these things are, much less understands them. Even in the case of wanting to wear party clothes, there's really no opportunity. Work and family don't understand your clothing choices the way college students with similar interests do.

10. Academics

I won't say much about this but I think we all know that boredom starts to set in a few weeks after break starts.

10 Things About College You'll Miss on Break

There are a lot of great things about college - the level of independence that you get to experience - things that you lose when you go home for break. Sitting here in Virginia, I'm thinking about the things I miss about Boston and the MIT campus.

Read more for my list of 10 things about college you'll miss on break.

Motivate Yourself: What is Work?

I think we all have days where we just can't do any work.

But that doesn't mean that day is a loss. Sometimes you can trick yourself into getting "work" done. Other times you just need to realize how much work you're already doing.

I'll share a few tricks for getting yourself into getting stuff done when your body just won't cooperate.

Set the mood

Often the reason I can't get work done is because of a bad or lazy mood. To deal with a lack of motivation, let's first qualify what it means to get work done. There are all sorts of tasks that need to get done in a day. Some of them are chores; others are complex creative tasks; others are matters of routine. Some relaxing but necessary tasks we don't even consider when making our to-do lists: showering, eating, cooking, taking a moment for breathing. But all of these things need to happen in a day.

It seems ridiculous to de-value the things that have to get done. Without going grocery shopping and cooking food, you'd starve. Shouldn't that make those tasks the most important part of your day?

Do chores

I find that the reason I can't focus on a large academic "important" task is because I've allowed too many of these "little" chores pile up. In that sense too we can see that everyday chores are important and part of getting work done. Without keeping up on chores and self-care, we can lose our motivation for larger tasks.

Try out these physical chores with the intended mental goals in mind.

• Cleaning your room
• Refocus and de-clutter your mind
• Open up your windows to let in sunlight
• Brighten your outlook
• Wash and dry dishes
• Drift on what you need to do
• Throw away old lists and papers
• Prioritize the things left 
• Empty the trash can
• Let go of baggage
• Do laundry
• Focus and pacing

Pacing

Work is not sitting in one place for hours and hours. The Social Network might show us people "plugging in" for hours at a time, but most people don't work this way. The human body isn't designed to sit in one place for a long time; cramped and tired out is usually the end result of this type of studying and work. So don't study in a way that physically saps motivation and sets you up to fail!

Study to your body's needs and personal habits

Most people can only concentrate on a task for 45 minutes which is about the time a load of laundry takes. After a block of time concentrating, take a break to do a physical activity to pump your body back up and keep yourself from getting tired. This will help your motivation.

Motivate Yourself: What is Work?

I think we all have days where we just can't do any work.

But that doesn't mean that day is a loss. Sometimes you can trick yourself into getting "work" done. Other times you just need to realize how much work you're already doing.

I'll share a few tricks for getting yourself into getting stuff done when your body just won't cooperate.

Morning Routine

Let's just say that my routine is very important to me. I think that it's very important to look forward to a routine that can give structure to your day. At the very least, it's very important both for sleep schedules. At the best, routine is a safe thing to fall back on for times of stress. And there is always a lot of stress.

On the other hand, leaving a full amount of time to walk is good for keeping stress down. I've always had said to me to start off the day the way it should go. Starting the day in a stressed running rush keeps the whole day in a state of stress.

Here's a full run down on what I do in the morning before rushing off to class.

• Struggle to wake up for 5 minutes
• Drink water
• Shower
• Dress
• Breakfast with water
• Checking email
• Setting things to boil
• Make Caffeinated Tea for travel mug
• Moisturizer
• To Do List for the day
• Check backpack
• Walk out with enough time to walk

This may sound silly, but one of my priorities is to drink water at the start of my day. Water sometimes feels like the biggest refresh for the mornings. I wouldn't give up my caffeine but I wouldn't give up my water either.

I would like to devote more time to making myself look pretty in the morning. At the very least, exchanging my plain moisturizer for a BB creme. Maybe even add some mascara for adventurous days.

Morning Routine

Let's just say that my routine is very important to me. I think that it's very important to look forward to a routine that can give structure to your day. At the very least, it's very important both for sleep schedules. At the best, routine is a safe thing to fall back on for times of stress. And there is always a lot of stress.

On the other hand, leaving a full amount of time to walk is good for keeping stress down. I've always had said to me to start off the day the way it should go. Starting the day in a stressed running rush keeps the whole day in a state of stress.

Here's a full run down on what I do in the morning before rushing off to class.

Morning routine: Breakfast

Morning routine is so hard to establish and so easy to break. I was raised to always have breakfast in the morning. I wasn't spoiled enough to have a home cooked breakfast laid in front of me, but I wasn't living the anime trope of toast in the mouth either.

Going to college has definitely made me realize how important breakfast and a good morning routine is.
I've seen lot of students sitting in morning lecture, some barely awake, others with grumbly tummies, and even the occasional few who have forgotten their necessary laptop or pset. I'm not too shamed to admit but after an all nighter, I've been that person too. Worse, if I don't follow my routine then I end up as the person who forgot their pset, makes a ruckus while entering the lecture hall late, and has a growling stomach the whole lecture long.





The point is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I know it's hard to fit in time for breakfast, so I'll share my quick fixes. Sometimes I do just one; on good days I do a

Carb

• Banana
• Granola
• Cereal
• Microwave Oatmeal
• Microwave Grits
• Croissants
• Apples
• Granola/Breakfast bar

Protein

• Scrambled Egg
• Deli-sliced Turkey/Ham
• Protein Bar
• Peanut Butter
• Whole Milk Yogurt
• Sausage

Carb & Protein

• Toast and Jam
• Bread and Nutella
• Sandwich
• Croissants with Ham/Egg
• Any carb + Grab and go packaged yogurt
• Any carb + protein powder

Drink water! A glass of water right when wake up and head out- it is almost as good as coffee, I swear to you.

Morning routine: Breakfast

Morning routine is so hard to establish and so easy to break. I was raised to always have breakfast in the morning. I wasn't spoiled enough to have a home cooked breakfast laid in front of me, but I wasn't living the anime trope of toast in the mouth either.

Going to college has definitely made me realize how important breakfast and a good morning routine is.
I've seen lot of students sitting in morning lecture, some barely awake, others with grumbly tummies, and even the occasional few who have forgotten their necessary laptop or pset. I'm not too shamed to admit but after an all nighter, I've been that person too. Worse, if I don't follow my routine then I end up as the person who forgot their pset, makes a ruckus while entering the lecture hall late, and has a growling stomach the whole lecture long.