coming back from break, I feel a mix of comfort and disorientation, which is something I noticed Sarah experiences too. She returns to school after Thanksgiving ready to push through the last couple of weeks, but the shift from home to campus life isn’t easy. For me, going home felt familiar and grounding. Everything was where I left it, and I didn’t have to worry about sharing a space. Return ing to my dorm meant adjusting again to living with my roommate. While it hasn’t been a bad transition, it definitely feels different from the comfort of home. Sarah felt this too in her own way. She enjoyed the break but knew she had to readjust once she returned, and that’s something I really relate to.

Another thing Sarah and I share is the feeling of preparing for what’s next. She has to face exams and start planning for the next semester. I’m also starting to think about registration. What classes I want, which ones will help me reach my goals, and what times fit best have been taking up my mind recently. Even though I’ve been at Longwood for a while now, some parts of college still feel brand new, like figuring out how to manage my time during these busy stretches and making sure I’m on top of deadlines.

Unlike Sarah though, I have actually maintained and even gotten better relationships with my friends back home. My senior year of high school, I found myself isolating myself. It wasn’t for any specific reason, I was just doing it. Now being away from home most of the time, I rely very heavily on my hometown friends. It still feels a bit wild to have to distinguish them as my hometown friends and not just the people who live down the street from me or in second period.

With our two larger breaks coming up, I could not be more excited to just get this semester over and done with. I believe stepping away from the college scene for an extended period will do me wonders. I honestly am not the biggest fan 0f college as a whole. I know, however, when we all come back for the spring semester, I will feel a bit disoriented once again. Reading Sarah’s story reminds me that the rest of freshman year is going to involve a lot of change, and I want to plan for it, whether that means staying organized with classes, maintaining my friendships, or finding ways to make the return from breaks smoother. Like Sarah, I’m learning to balance comfort and growth.