Winter Break and A Little More, Preparing for Abroad

My home university’s scheduled winter break started December 18th (December 14th for me due to a lucky finals schedule) and ended January 5th. My study abroad program in Santiago begins February 24th, leaving me with about an extra month at home and an extended winter break. This left me with plenty of time to ensure everything was in order back home, spend time with family and friends, and also time to think and be nervous. If you’re anything like me, so much free time can leave you anxious and imagining illogical downturns. The break for me was up and down, lacking the structure I’ve grown used to at university. I’m finishing up packing before I leave for this weekend and I have some lessons I’ve learned about rest and preparing for big changes.

1.  It’s okay not to do anything for a few, especially when overwhelmed.

Usually, when I come home for break, I sleep nearly the entire day I return home and 12 hours for the first week. My body catches up from the past semester of no sleep. But as the weeks went on I was working on smaller personal projects, spending more time with friends and family, and I had more free time than I’d had the entire year. When I have too much free time, I begin to freak out a bit. In my prior three semesters at university, I was taking the maximum number of credits allowed before overloading, working on campus, and participating in extracurriculars. Having all this free time and waiting for my new chapter to start was honestly terrifying for the first few weeks after my university’s winter break ended. But if you find yourself in a particularly longer break than you’d be accustomed to as you wait to go abroad, enjoy the break for what it is. I had my fair share of doubts and fears creep in, but looking back as my arrival date gets closer I had nothing to worry about. Going to small cafes or restaurants helped get me outside and put any nervous thoughts aside.

2. All my friends were back in classes… Now what?

University break ended for my friends and they all headed back to university. I became a lot more social in college and I was left with a lot more alone time than I was used to. For the first week, I was down and it began settling in that I wouldn’t see most of my university friends until the fall semester. Throughout my break, I grew more comfortable with my alone time and pursuing hobbies I didn’t have time for in school. I love and value my friends and the time away made me further appreciate the connections and love I have for them. Looking not just towards my time abroad but also entering adulthood beyond college, the break allowed me to become more okay with being alone and enjoying my own company. 

3. Build personal goals, not everything needs to be an assignment.

With the lack of structure I was used to, I found myself worrying more often. I tend to think very far into the future and being busy all of the time allows me to escape that worry. After a week though, developing goals for projects I had thought of during the school year but didn’t get around to helped to fill my time. Beyond career-based projects, branching out to traditional art again, home cafe lattes, and learning to cook. Having so much freedom allowed me to explore ideas related to my studies, and also gave me time for creativity that I didn’t have. 

This break has been pretty unconventional for me and there were many times when I struggled with having so much time to myself along with not having a laid-out structure for about a month and a half. I’m still partly that person who needs to have my life planned out for the next 10 years, but this break has allowed me to not only acknowledge this reality but also slowly release that need for structure. I’m still very nervous about the months ahead, going abroad alone for the first time in my life, but not as nervous as I was before the break. It’s okay to be worried, but I had to learn to take a step back and remind myself that I should be excited for what lies ahead. The fact that I'll be studying in Chile for the next months is finally settling in as I look at my folded clothes in my suitcase, but now it's no longer as daunting as it used to be.