It isn’t long until universities start breaking up for Christmas…if you are lucky, you may have even finished your first term all ready. After the past few months of settling into the university lifestyle, a break is very much needed.
The majority of students will be returning back home for Christmas. If you are not returning back home, I still have a few tips nearer the end of the post that will be helpful to you!
Have a Christmas dinner with your flatmates
Before you leave your university accommodation for the holidays, a great idea is to put on a Christmas dinner with your flatmates. It is a great way to all do a bit of cooking together and have a good time before you all part for a few weeks.
You could either do this in your flat, or if you struggle for space, they you could always book somewhere they does a good Christmas dinner.
Alternatively, if you are living alone or in a studio it does not mean you have to miss out! Grab some of your course mates and book a Christmas meal at a nice restaurant.
NOTE: If you are part of a sport or society, they will most likely organise a Christmas gathering/ Christmas dinner so look out for that!
Relax
The number one thing you need to do over Christmas is relax. Your first few months back will have been very manic, so it is totally understandable if you become a bit worn out when it starts getting towards the end of the first semester. The best thing to do is take a few days off and don’t touch any of your university work for a little while.
Of course, you may have January exams or coursework deadlines approaching but after almost 3 months straight of teaching it can be good to get a break from your work. It will also make you more refreshed when you go to revise it again.
However… do not leave all of your work till the last week oof your holidays as you will be putting yourself in the worst position Just get a good balance of work and rest!
Meet up with home friends
So, most of you will have been away from home for the best part of 3 months. You may have friends you haven’t seen in this time; you may have friends that are now working, etc. So, a fun thing to do is to reach out to anyone you haven’t seen in a while to see if they are around now you are back art home. A good catch up with home friends can really help!
Spend time with family
Again, similar to the last point, you may not have seen very much of your family in the last 3 months while you have bene at university. So, make sure to try and spend a bit of time with them!
Start your Christmas shopping early
Soon enough, when it hits the end of term you realise that you have spent all of your student loan on takeaways and nights out! This is why it is a good idea to start your Christmas shopping a little earlier as a student.
Write down your deadlines
As soon as you finish your last seminars, a good thing to do is write down any deadline dates or exams that will be approaching at the start of second semester so that you can prepare yourself and you know what you need to look at over Christmas.
Dedicate time to revision
Leading on from the last point, one of the worst things you can do is ignore your university work all together. Imagine turning up to semester two in January with a deadline in one week and an exam a few days later and you haven’t looked over any of your materials! You would just be making things harder for yourself.
So, on this point, make sure you dedicate sometime for your revision. This does not have to be every day, nor does it have to be every week but make sure you fit in a few hours when you have some free time.
Students staying at university over Christmas
If you are an international student, or you just so happen to be staying in your university accommodation over the Christmas period then there are still lots of things you can do!
As always, a good break is needed so make sure you take some time for yourself.
Check out the Christmas Market
If you haven’t already, a good way to spend your time is to check out your local Christmas market. Or if you are near any other cities why not make a day of it and travel to see another Christmas market.
Decorate your accommodation
Take a little shopping trip to somewhere like Poundland or Primark where you can find some super cheap, amazing little Christmas decorations. Wy not put up a little tree, pop some Christmas music on and get decorating it. You could even do a little bit of DIY and create some Christmas banners.
Ask around to see if any other students are around
Check if any one has put any comments in any of your university group chats or Facebook groups to say that they are staying over Christmas as well. It might be a good opportunity to meet up with some new people!
Final Thoughts
So that sums up my little tips for students returning or staying at university over the Christmas holidays. Getting through your first semester at university can be a little tough so you should be proud of making it! All you need to do now is relax and get ready for your second semester.
You should have got to grips with how your course is going to work this year so effectively second year should be a little bit easier to get stuck into.
Maybe even have a think about things you didn’t do in your first semester that you would like to try in your next semester!
