Student Blog: Bored Over Break? I've Got You!

As a college student, I often find it can be difficult to decide what to do with downtime or free time. It's not often in college that you get the chance to use your time the way you want to. Though winter break looks different for everyone, I thought I might provide some ideas for if you find you don't have much to do!

The first thing I turn to over winter break is any form of professional development. Usually, this begins with updating my resumé by adding positions or opportunities I had this year, editing job descriptions, or changing end dates for any positions I no longer hold. Having a solid resumé really sets you up for success later on, so having time to fix it up can be helpful! I also then begin brainstorming summer. As intimidating as this is (because it's literally winter break), summer can come too quickly. Find some internships you may be interested in or begin organizing your plan for summer stock auditions! This allows you to go into the spring semester with more sanity as you have to balance applications and/or auditions on top of all of your new classes!

The second thing I would suggest is reaching out to people you have not seen in a while. Though this may be obvious, often I find coming back from college means I gravitate towards the same, wonderful people. However, there are high school friends, whom I rarely have an opportunity to see, I would love to reconnect with. Think of some people you might want to grab coffee with and see if they are free! I find post-high school, people are really happy to connect with anyone who reaches out.

I always love a good deep clean. Throw on your favorite movie or music and go through drawers or cabinets or old clothes and find what you can cleanse from your room! Then, find an organization or local mission where you might be able to donate some things. This allows you to feel better about your place at home and you have an opportunity to give back.

Finally, as simple as it sounds, you can also try and learn a new skill. Some ideas that may be more elaborate include learning about investing, exploring how the stock market works, or even learning to code (try starting with Python!). If you don't want something as elaborate as those, you could try learning a new dance or acrobatic skill, read a new genre of book you have not tried before, or take up a new niche (mine was starting my TikTok all about Broadway). Taking on the process of learning a new skill promotes creativity but it also benefits you in many areas including both in academics and in your professional career.

Despite all of these suggestions, I think the greatest gift you can give yourself is the opportunity to look at boredom more as an opportunity to relax. It is a gift to be able to have flexibility in scheduling things and sometimes not having anything to do. School is difficult and demanding, so give yourself grace and know you have earned the chance just to relax!