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Before JTerm starts this week, (January Term at Columbia College Chicago) and I get back into the swing of being a full time student, I tried to restore balance in my life by trying new activities, going to new places, meeting with friends and tackling projects I always told myself I would get around to. Towards the end of the semester, it becomes easy to slip into a repetitive pattern of working really hard,
cramming in projects and papers, sleeping and eating once in a while. Then, you are finally rewarded with something you have learned to appreciate; free time.

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You mean, I can sleep in and I have nothing on my calendar for the day?!? What is that? Usually, over break, you take a few days to catch up on your zzz’s, eat  some hearty meals, learn the true meaning of binge watching and then once  you’ve had your fill, it’s time to move on. But not with school work; I mean with all of those other things you used to do a lot more of like hang out with your friends, go out to dinner (not Chipotle or Subway ), and regain some sort of social life.

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Breaks become a great opportunity to take advantage of the city’s offerings, reset the body, and break a bad pattern or rut you might have gotten yourself into. I  finally went to the Arcade Emporium in Wicker Park, a bar that’s filled with close  to one hundred video and recreational games. I honestly can’t remember the last  time I played pinball, let alone while drinking a beer and listening to good music. My boyfriend and I went to the Adler Planetarium, trekked in the winter  blizzard and both checked off our list a place neither of us had been to in twenty years. At home, I finally tried stenciling on my bedroom walls and actually  completed a project that I pinned from Pinterest!

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Part New Year’s Resolution to try new things and part opportunity with the time off from Columbia College became the right time to focus back on myself.  It was an opportunity to branch out a bit and take off the tunnel vision glasses. It’s a great  way to start off the New Year.

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