What to Do During Winter Break in College

Yes! Winter break is finally here! After the last couple of busy, stressful weeks, your mind can finally relax. But… you might find that you don’t have much to do now that classes are done. If you get bored, or you just want to take advantage of your break, here are some things you should definitely do before next semester rolls around!

1. Make Some Money

If you didn’t have a job during fall semester, get one! The more money you can put towards college now, the less you’ll have to pay in student loans later! Plenty of stores hire extra people around the busy holiday shopping season, so a part-time job should be easier to come by. Even if you don’t get a part time job, you can do other things to make money. I did a bake sale last Christmas and donated half of the profits to a school in the Dominican Republic. It’s good to have an organization to donate some of the money to if you do this; most people won’t want to give you money just because you’re a poor college student. Other ideas would be to shovel driveways when it snows, sell things on eBay, or clean homes or dog-sit.

2. Apply for Scholarships

This goes along with the last one; you should do everything you can to try to pay off your college bills early. Use the time you have now to apply for as many scholarships as you can, even if they require a little extra work, like essays. In fact, this is a perfect time to apply to scholarships that take a little more time and effort than others, because you don’t have a bunch of schoolwork to worry about at the same time.

3. Visit Family and Friends

The holidays are great for family get-togethers, and you can also plan fun Christmas parties with your other friends who are home from college. I’m planning to hang out with a few friends that I haven’t seen since high school graduation over a year ago! When you think about life in the long run, it’s these memories with family and friends that mean the most, so take time out of your break to visit people!

4. Do Something Memorable

Volunteer, take a dance class, travel to a different country, or go to an amusement park! If you are thinking of doing something new but don’t know if you should, just do it! Now is better than never!

5. Get in Shape

Don’t let the laziness of winter break take over your body! I know you’ll want to sit on the couch and watch endless Netflix and holiday movies, but don’t do it! Well, a movie or show once in a while is okay - it is vacation after all. But, this is a perfect time to get your exercise in - there’s no excuse not to! (Plus, it’s a good excuse to have a few holiday treats later!)

6. Catch up on Sleep

We all know sleep is very important for your health, and this is a good time to make sure you’re getting enough sleep, because you probably weren’t during the semester. But don’t have a crazy sleep schedule! It’s good to go to bed at a decent time, and not sleep in super late. Then, when you go back to school, you won’t have to adjust that much to waking up for 8 a.m. classes all over again.