After a week of R&R, we have returned to campus, (hopefully) rested and eager to finish the rest of the semester off right. Here are six realizations I made upon my chilly arrival back in Cambridge:

Don’t take a Sunday night red eye, arriving in Logan at 6:15 A.M Monday morning. This will be an extremely depressing experience. Definitely avoid this if you’re coming from a warm climate. Boarding the flight in San Francisco in leggings and a t-shirt and being greeted by sixteen degree weather in Boston was not pleasant. Pro tip: if you absolutely must take a red-eye, remember your room key! It was no fun squatting in the hallway outside my door for hours as I waited for my roommates to wake up. It was even less fun heading to my 10 A.M. right after this.

Spring cleaning needs to happen, but I can’t imagine where to begin. With the collection of Diet Cokes, Starbucks cups, and Pinkberry containers that cover my desk (okay,  this is gross)? The random papers, bits of trash and packaging, and clothes all over our floor? The three pillows in the hallway that no one will claim? The knocked over drying rack in the common room? At this point, I’m not even sure I’ll bother to fully unpack… it’s much easier just rifling through a mound of clothes at the foot of my bed every morning. I remember my housing application from last year: “I am extremely organized and can’t imagine living with someone messy. I absolutely need neat roommates who also want a clean room.”

Midterms round II are always closer than you think. This is the time to bring up those grades! If only we weren’t still recovering from the last set of midterms and struggling to regain a work ethic after one week without reading, papers, and psets. Hmm… maybe I should’ve done a little work over break.

Or maybe I should’ve found something to do this summer. Hopefully an amazing job or internship will turn up randomly. That’s what often happens, right?

Wow, winter really is endless. Here we are with only five weeks of classes left and a snowstorm coming in today. Did I really need to bring back a suitcase of “spring” clothing? I thought there were seasons in New England…. Didn’t realize the climate was perpetual winter.

Wait… five weeks of classes left?! Not really sure how this is possible, but I definitely haven’t had a chance to cross everything off my freshmen year bucket list. Time to cram all expectations and hopes for college into this last stretch!