Taking breaks

After returning to school following spring break, people asked about my time off, and I usually responded along the lines of, “It was nice. I was able to relax and not do much.” Every time, they responded with a variation of “Good! You’ve been pretty busy lately,” which is an understatement to say the least.

my meetings and classes. Those 20 minutes are frequently used to travel between meetings on different parts of campus Never spent getting coffee with a friend, catching up on homework or eating lunch outside.

Emily Gerdes

I don’t sit still often, which leads me to be constantly involved in every activity that presents itself. If you name an organization on campus there is a strong possibility I have been a part of it or worked with it in some capacity. This spring break reminded me, it is okay to do nothing.

For some, a week away from school entails a period of time when they can let loose. Go partying with friends, forget responsibilities and generally speaking, make bad decisions Since I am graduating in May, this was my final college spring break, but mine looked a little different.

I did not go downtown because only one of my friends was in town, and I spent a large portion of the week sitting on my couch or in my car. To be frank, I would not change it for the world.

It isn’t unusual for me to schedule only 20 minute “breaks” between

At the beginning of spring break, having a free 20 minutes was intimidating and unimaginable. It was hard to realize I finally had time to do more than one load of laundry at a time, vacuum the whole house at once, finish reading the book I had been staring at for months, bake cookies, clean the oven and dust the house! What do I do after all those tasks are done?

I’ll be honest, I felt lost and empty once I finished the initial chores I needed to complete with nothing else to do. What does a type-A scheduler do with an empty calendar? Well, I’ll tell you. She cleans every counter in the kitchen from top to bottom. She takes the long way on the walk to the mailbox. She binges season two of Bridgerton. She reorganizes the living room blanket collection. She spends the entire morning hanging up new lights and pictures. She sleeps. She sleeps for nine hours straight.

As nice as it was to not have a laid-out schedule with every minute planned, I was able to take a deep breath once Sunday night rolled around. However, the first week back to school I was already begging President Cruz Rivera to cancel classes.