Meet Selwyn Bachus. Selwyn is a sophomore architecture major from Omaha, NE.

Winter break is a great time to reconnect with your students. After a semester away from home, freshmen will need a breather and refresher. One of the easiest ways to accomplish that is by coming home and enjoying the things that they have been accustomed to before they came to college. After what can be a huge and crazy culture shock, something as simple as a meal can be a huge help in destressing your student and preparing for the next semester.

Some ideas for things to do:

  • Cook the students favorite homemade meal
  • Enjoy a dinner at the students favorite restaurant
  • Make sure to continue carrying out Winter and/or holiday traditions
  • Go sledding
  • Have a snowball fight
  • Enjoy a night with hot cocoa and marshmallows
  • Spend time by a fire
  • Watch holiday movies from their childhood
  • Attend local high school and college basketball games

Any and everything you as a parent can do to distract and alleviate your students’ minds from school work during the short turnaround from Fall to Spring semesters is amazing. Meals that students can’t eat while they are at school are something students are always looking forward too. Going sledding or having snowball fights are always fun stress relief activities. Even watching movies from childhood holidays can remind students of a simpler time before the stress of finals and paying for college.

Truthfully, any interaction to keep your student from being completely sedentary over Christmas break is a good thing. While your students will definitely need time to just sit down and decompress from the previous semester, keeping them up and moving will be a necessary and unknowingly welcomed switch from the constant grind of being a student.