At St. Thomas, students have a 5-6 week break between the end of fall semester and the beginning of spring semester. The final four weeks of break are called J-term (January term) in which students have the option of taking a class. A lot of students take the opportunity to study abroad during J-term. My friend Chelsie took a theology course in Rome while another friend Emily did a geology field study in Nevada and California. I, on the other hand, chose the less exciting route and stayed home for J-term instead of taking a class. I know that may sound extremely boring, but trust me, the time went by very quickly.

My J-term consisted of work, more work, and some fun with friends. I transferred back to my home CVS/pharmacy in Plymouth, and I spent my 6 weeks working 40 hours/week. I feel as if I saw my co-workers more than my family. Luckily, I really enjoy my job and have amazing co-workers. On my days off, I spent as much time as possible with my friends.

I was on the Science Olympiad team in high school, and most of the friends I keep in touch with are old teammates. I am happy to say that I got to hang out with all of them about four times over break. We usually ended up watching movies, going to Minneapolis, or playing Killer Bunnies (this insane card game that my friends love). For our big get-together, we had a “Postmas” party, like a post-Christmas hang out. We wore Christmas sweaters and even did a white elephant gift exchange. The gift I received was one of those little toy hamsters that move around and even come in one of those plastic balls. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I am definitely bringing it back to school with me to show my roommates.

^My white elephant hamster! Isn't it awesome?!^

I also got to hang out with my best friend Courtney a bunch of times. She is usually extremely busy and is horrible at contacting people so I consider it a miracle we even hang out once. One of my favorite days of break was going to Target with Courtney where we had an umbrella adventure and sat in the children’s book section reading Where the Wild Things Are and Dr. Seuss. It sounds lame, but it was so much fun! Also, I now have an awesome new umbrella to show off around campus once the spring showers arrive.

During J-term, I also found the time to catch up on some of my favorite TV shows. If there is one thing that I feel benefits all college students, it is a Netflix account. Practically everyone I know in college spends time by watching shows or movies online. My roommate watched all eight seasons of Charmed in two months last semester, and my other roommate periodically watches Gilmore Girls before class. Online TV is the one thing I think all college students have in common. That being said, I have FINALLY started watching the final season of Lost, which is my all-time favorite show. I never wanted to watch the final episodes before because I didn’t want it to be over, but now I only have two episodes left and IT IS SO GOOD! I also watched the whole first season of American Horror Story. So many people were talking about how amazing the show was, and I just had to find out for myself. I thought the show was terrifyingly good! I was freaked out the whole time but couldn’t stop watching.

Overall, my break consisted of work, friends, and catching up on TV shows. It was extremely fun, relaxing, and rejuvenating. It was exactly the kind of break I needed, and I am ready for a new semester to begin on Monday!