Life After Fall Break

By Tena Elman

“It feels like we just got here. I can’t believe how fast time flew.” These thoughts have unfortunately been running through our minds the past few weeks. We are all aware that life after fall break is here and in full motion. No one wants to hear it. Is there anything we can do to slow down time? No, but what we can do is sit down and talk it through how to manage the rest of your semester.

Remember how you felt the week before midterms? “I haven’t done anything all semester, and now I have to remember how to study?” I remember the worst feeling was putting everything off at the beginning of the semester and then having to face it once midterms rolled around. The only thing on my mind was The Northern Loop trip, but I had 4 little problems (midterms) standing in my way, on top of a couple of papers to write. I spent half of my time stressing, and the other half of my time studying, writing papers and preparing for an Italian presentation. 

Once the worst week of my life was over, I was able to enjoy my fall break. But let’s fast forward to the end of the semester. You will be facing the same situation, but the light at the end of the tunnel is your flight home, not your halfway mark of the semester. This feeling might suffocate you but there is a solution to this feeling. Due dates are set at the beginning of the semester, so go through your syllabus and attack the assignments one at a time. By writing out an eight-page paper before December hits, you won’t have to ever think about it again. This will leave you more time at the end of the semester to take in your last days of the city or travel to new vistas on the weekends.

At this point in the semester, it is important to realize how much money we actually don’t have. Reality is setting in that we won’t be abroad forever. You can do a few things to help yourselves and your bank account. We all have kitchens- use them! I know it seems easier to grab a Pino’s Panini and a glass of wine for 5 euro than it is to think about the meal you are about to cook, gather ingredients for, actually cook and then the worst part… clean up.

As a student, there was a point in the semester after fall break when I realized that I’d never even stepped foot into some of my friends’ apartments. We would always meet up at a restaurant or café when we wanted to hang out. So we started to all host different dinner nights. Each apartment would host a night and the visitors didn’t have to spend a dime. And when it came time for you to host, we were too caught up in the fun and managed to spend under 7 euro each when we split it up between the roommates. Bruschetta and antipasto to start, followed by grilled chicken and pasta with pesto accompanied with some vino, and some gelato downstairs was the perfect way to get everyone together and satisfy my cravings.

By talking it out and seeing it in words, I hope that you are all now professionals on saving your time and saving your money. With that, I think you’ve saved enough to treat yourself to a final weekend excursion before you return home.

You’ll be home in no time and might be working off your debts from your parents, so what’re a couple more hundred dollars? Take my advice: it’s worth it. You’ll remember your weekend in a new city more than you’ll remember those couple days you had to work at home to pay it off.

Visit Bus2alps.com to take a look at our itineraries for any last-minute trips.

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