As the jingle bells ring and the halls are decked with boughs of holly, students from outside Utah are looking forward to returning home for the holidays while others will be staying here.
Chase Peterson, a freshman in engineering, said he is excited to go home.
“The entire semester as a whole has made me want to go home and be with family,” Peterson said.
The Housing and Residential Office asks students to evacuate the dorms for the break, but Peterson said even if they didn’t he would still choose to go back home to Morgan, Utah.
“You can’t be in the dorms at all during winter break, so I am staying at my parents’ house,” Peterson said. “But I’d rather do that then stay in the dorms anyway because my family is super close.”
Peterson said he thinks not all students choose to go home.
“I think every student needs to make a personal choice on whether or not they go home and be with family or go and create their own traditions and adventures,” he said.
For other students, like Evan Wilson, a senior in electrical engineering, the break will only include a small percentage of time with family and the rest will be dedicated to lingering projects.
“I’m going home to Connecticut for a few days, but I have to work on a project, so I need to stay in Utah for most of the break,” Wilson said. “I only get to see my East Coast family twice a year, so it’s important to go back and see them and make sure they are doing well. I like going back to my roots — it’s nostalgic for me.”
Peterson said he thinks the four weeks of break might be too long.
“The break is beneficial because we need the weeks of vacation,” Peterson said. “But it might be hard to get into a new routine for a bit and then have to go back to school. [The] shorter the break, the easier [it is] to get back to the school-life.”
Wilson said he thinks the break is needed to rejuvenate before Spring Semester.
“Having a break to go home allows a break from college life,” Wilson said. “And it gives you a chance to restart.”
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@JulianneSkrivan