There is nothing better than coming home with absolutely nothing to do. And no one knows this better than the university and college students who arrive home for the holidays each year.
For the most part, Christmas is a nice, relaxing period in a student’s year. You get to sleep in a familiar setting, you don’t have any homework, and you get to have other people cook for you and do your laundry.
And since student life is mostly one stress headache after another, coming back to your childhood home can be a little slice of heaven.
“That’s the nice part off coming home—exams to nothing,” said Rebecca Cornell, a student at the University of Guelph. “It’s a good change. By the time break is up, I’m ready to go back.”
Robin Sieders, a first-year student at Algonquin College in Ottawa, also feels the need to relax, saying that coming home “is a nice break.”
“It’s nice to see everyone again and catch up with everyone,” she added.
Cornell is a veteran student, already halfway through her third year, so coming home every year is no big deal. But for other students away for the first time, it can be a little weird.
For Lucas Keffer, a first-year student at the University of Waterloo, coming home was strange at first but he adjusted as he settled back into a routine he knew.
“It’s like I never left but it’s weird because it feels like I’ve been gone for a long time,” he remarked.
Shannon Darby agreed. “It’s weird seeing some people again. It’s just kind of awkward sometimes,” said the first-year music student at Brandon University.
Even some second- and third-year students agree coming home can be a little strange. Laura Darby has been attending the University of Alberta for the past year-and-a-half.
She still feels a little odd after her four-month stint away from home, however.
“You come home and there’s new stuff around the house,” she said.
All the students agree, however, it is much more restful at home than it is at school. And most can’t wait to get out of the school setting.
“I was excited because it meant no more exams and I got good food,” Laura Darby said.
“I had a countdown,” echoed her sister, Shannon. “At the end of exams I was in total shutdown mode because I just wanted to go home.”
For his part, Keffer was just “glad to be home.”
The students don’t seem to be packing their calendars to full while they’re at home—each of them keeping in mind that this is a holiday. Cornell has been busy with chores around her family’s farm but doesn’t mind.
“I go eight months without them,” she reasoned.
The Darby girls both have different agendas. Laura is looking forward to reading something other than a textbook while Shannon is hoping to brush up on her social skills.
Keffer, meanwhile, is hoping to get a little camping and ice fishing in. As for Sieders, she would like to lie around and do absolutely nothing.
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