How to make the best use of your holidays (mainly geared towards college students)

Now that my semester of university is officially "done", I've been at home just doing random things. Since I can't really go anywhere (no car, parents with both cars and always working), I just find ways to entertain myself at home.

Thus, here are also some ways you can entertain yourself at home, college-age appropriate.

1. Cracked.com - this is a site that has a bunch of sarcastic, humorous articles ranging anywhere from current events to videos on controversial topics to sex and beyond. This is a really interesting site that is definitely very interesting to look at.

2. xkcd.com - this is a site that posts humorous nerd comics I believe 3X/week. Really interesting. Comics from this site often include allusions to computer science, hard science, math, etc. You get what I mean. I actually don't understand some of the comic strips, since I am not in those fields, but I understand most of them. Yeah, pretty interesting.

3. phdcomics.com - this is also a site that posts humorous nerd comics, once a week. This is geared more towards hard sciences (especially biology/chemistry) and focuses on graduate students, of course, like the URL of the site says, Ph.D students. Very humorous for nerds. I also understand the stuff.

4. all of the beauty blogs! of course, this is for girls and guys who are interested in these topics. For a list of them, look at the list of beauty blogs I'm subscribed to. There's like a bagillion of them (or rather, more like 50). You can find new looks, new ideas, new trends, etc on them. Always there are new looks to try.

5. news.google.com - this is the site I usually go to to get my daily dose of news. The site can be personalized to whatever YOU want to read. It's always good to keep up with the current news and know about what is going on in the world outside.

6. Take up new hobbies - recently, I started knitting. Granted, this makes me sound like a grandma, but the thing is that it is definitely a good way to pass the time while you are watching TV or something. Also, it builds the dexterity of your hands, which I will definitely need for medical school when handling cadavers and stuff. (Yeah, sorry for that graphic piece of info). Some people do other things, like ice fishing, painting, writing, etc. I also write as well - of course, with part of that on this blog :)

7. Try new recipes for cooking. Or, if you've never cooked before, try cooking. Whether you're a guy or a gal, it's always good to learn this important skill. After all, on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, food and shelter are the main basic things needed for survival. After all, one cannot survive for more than 30 days without food. Whether it's learning to make simply eggs or put together a sandwich or making foie gras and lemon-seared salmon, it's always good to try and learn.

8. Catch up on all of your favorite TV shows. And watch television for the heck of it. Basically, a lot of kids forget about watching television once they go to college. There are so many other things to do on campus; why do this? During my first year in college, when I was not at home, I literally spent at most 30 minutes the entire year watching television. Of course, the only TV screen that was available at my dorm was my roommate's tiny 1.5 ft screen. At home, there's the 42'' plasma. Of course it is more accessible/easier to watch.

9. Hang out with your friends from high school. During the summer holidays, a lot of my friends go across the country or even world to go to their internships and volunteer work, missions work, etc. However, the winter break is really short, and people generally can't go on internships (or at least for my university). Thus, it's a time when most people just go home for the holidays. Visiting old friends from high school is a great way to keep in contact. Meet each other at a restaurant or go to a bowling game together or something. It'll be really fun, I promise!

10. Of course, sleep. During the semester, we're always working and working, and during finals season, our lives are in total havoc with all of our final tests/projects/papers/psets/etc/whatnot. We WILL burn out eventually. The winter holidays are a great opportunity for catching up on all of those lost zzzz's.

So there you go, 10 good ways to spend your winter vacation without really going too far from home. Hope this holiday season is a great one for all of ya'll, and have fun!

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