Winter break was great this year – I was able to celebrate Christmas with my entire family, welcome the New Year in with my fiancé’s family, and was able to go to Disney World.

I soaked up the sun, ate too much food, and walked way too much while in Disney. I enjoyed every bit of it, but it was time to go back to school as soon as the plane landed from Florida.

I had one day to pack before school started, and I hadn’t packed anything yet. Trying to distinguish what was needed and what would stay home, I checked my list of things to remember.

I found my toothbrush, my comb, and my favorite pair of jeans. My hair straightener, though, was stuffed under my bed, alongside the dust bunnies and long-lost cat toys. I wasn’t ready to move back in.

My suitcase was overfilled, my room at home was empty, and my car was waiting for me. It’s not that I had anything holding me back (besides my cat knowing I was going away), it was the fact that I wouldn’t at home.

After a brief mental breakdown and a hug from Mom, I was making my way to my car. I didn’t want to say goodbye and was excited to go to school, but something about my quaint small-town told me to not go. But my Camry was packed, I was inside, and Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek.

It was time to go.

As I arrived on campus, I got to my building and found that the first door was propped open, and the second was broken. Thankfully it was broken, because I forgot the door code. I walked into my room, the stale air hit me in the face.

I plopped my bags down, took a deep breath, and made my way to my friends room to welcome them back. It was all coming back to me, why the stress and late-night adventures for food were all worth it.

The friendships made in college were something that parents would encourage, but I don’t think that anyone really thought about how we all grew up together.

These were some of my best friends, and I couldn’t wait to see them.

Now, when asking them about how their break was, and how returning to school felt, I received the same basic answer.

Erin Stalker, a senior here at AIC, said that “coming back to school is neither good nor bad, but I’m not at home. That’s all that matters.”

Peta-Gaye Ricketts, also a senior here, agreed.

“Leaving Jersey is never exciting, but seeing everyone back on campus is the best part of coming back to school,” Ricketts said.

Sophomore Chelsea Davis was asked if she was either excited or bummed to be back.

She chuckled, and replied “I guess a little of both. Happy to come back and see my friends and start lacrosse, but not pumped to start classes again.”

This moving-in process was my last, as I will be graduating in May.

As stressful as moving in was, I felt as if it consumed me for the beginning of the semester. Routines will begin to kick in again, and I won’t notice that this is my last semester on campus as an undergraduate student.

It’s my last semester living right down the hall, and I won’t be able to see them whenever my heart pleases.

Maybe the feeling I had before I moved in was fear of change – but was I more afraid of moving back into school? Or am I more afraid that reality is coming sooner than expected?