By: Nicole Dienst ’18

The plethora of vacation instagrams and snapchat stories, whether it be telluride or Anguilla, can be quite overwhelming when you’re in Westport for vacation.

“Over break it’s boring to be home just because all my friends were gone and I realized how I can only handle so much Netflix,” Christine Taylor ’18 said. But despite the cabin fever or boredom that often occurs, being home for break can actually be quite relaxing and productive. Here are some things to do if your home for break:

First, knock out your work. Even though teachers aren’t supposed to assign work over break, there’s always assignments due two days or three days after we get back. Check schoology and stay updated so you’re not stressed within the first few days of school. Completing your assignments is also a good way to kill time.

Plan a trip to New York City with friends and family. We’ve had unusually nice weather and it’s always great to get a change of scenery. Some fun places to explore in the city are the New York Botanical Gardens, Battery Park, Central Park and Times Square if you are looking to shop.

And for juniors and even seniors, it is still obviously a very stressful time with college decisions deadlines coming up. If there are any schools that you are interested in within driving radius, go check out campus, grab a bite to eat and explore the surroundings. If you know anyone who goes to these schools, shoot them a text as most commonly people are more than happy to hang out. “I went to visit schools over break in New York and Boston. It was nice to get the visits out of the way when I’m not in school or in season for a sport,” Gabriela Vega ’18 said.

If you have doctors appointments to catch up on, break is a great time to get all of that out of the way. Missing school is always tough, especially for short appointments, so knocking out the orthodontist, physical (which is necessary for sports), dentist or dermatologist can be extremely helpful.

“Being home for break makes it more about killing time than enjoying and savoring it,” Zach Edelman ’17 said.