“Welcome back Colonels!” is a phrase that I have heard one too many times recently. Obviously, there is a reason for it. The spring 2024 semester has begun, and break is officially over. While I like to think of myself as a person who likes school, I cannot think of a single soul who would be thrilled to start a whole new semester after a month-long break.  

However, I will admit that I would much rather be in school procrastinating on my assignments than lying in bed doing nothing over break. But of course, there are pros and cons to this.  

To start with the positives of being back on campus, I have once again found a routine that works for me. Over break, I practically went stir-crazy staying in my house all day. At home, my routine was as follows: wake up, lay in bed, go to work and lay in bed some more until I fell asleep. Now that school is in session, I find myself much more organized, and I am following a proper schedule that works for me. If I did not have this routine, keeping up with everything that I am involved in would be a struggle.  

Another positive of being back from a break that I think everyone can agree with is that we get to see our friends! While I am still fortunate to have hometown friends, you cannot deny that special bond that you have with your college friends. It is especially hard when your friends at school live in different counties, states or even countries. It is hard to see them over even if you wanted to and time allowed, which makes seeing them over the school year more special.  

Let us dive into the negatives, and believe me, there are several. The first one that comes to mind is the tragedy that is the weather. I like to make the joke that it is ironic that we are currently in the “spring” semester, despite us trudging through the depths of winter the last few weeks. As I am writing this, the snow around campus is currently melting, and the number of times I have almost slipped is two. This is not necessarily a negative for everyone, since the weather has been giving us compressed schedules, class cancellations and overall campus closures. But I cannot imagine people preferring the wintry weather over the nice summer weather that we so graciously endure during the fall semester and end of spring.  

Another negative about being back from a break that I personally hate more than anything is waking up early. For my last two semesters, I have unfortunately experienced the horrors of having an 8 a.m. class. While I do enjoy these classes, I would like them a lot more if they were later in the day. Especially since I need to wake up, get ready, drive to campus and then take the hike around Wilkes-Barre at the crack of dawn. It is not that I hate waking up early in the mornings, but I do think my quality of life would increase drastically if I were able to wake up at 9 a.m. at the earliest on weekdays.  

Lastly, one of the negatives that I think everyone can agree on is having to survive solely on campus food. Being home for break, we were spoiled with actual home cooked food to the point that we were sick of it. But now, we took our mothers’ homemade lasagnas for granted and are now stuck with burgers, sandwiches and chicken tenders every day. Oh, also, try not to forget about “Fish Friday” every week in the dining hall! You will not want to miss it!  

I will admit, it is nice being on campus every day again, since it truthfully keeps me sane, but there are small things around here that make me go insane. I am still trying to navigate my way through my classes this semester, but I believe I will make it through. Hopefully, you all are too.