Spring break is in less than one week! But standing in front of me and the luxury of home is six hours of work, four quizzes, two interviews, and one lab report. In this crazy It is really easy to get overwhelmed and start stressing out, but there is a lot of things to remember during this time.

1. BREATHE. Do not let this get to you. It is easy to get caught up in pulling all-nighters 4 days in a row, Don’t do that. Take a deep breath and then resume what you’re doing.
2. Make a list. It can get crazy when suddenly you have 4 tests, a group project and an essay all due in a week. It is imperative that you stay organized!
3. Just do it. Sometimes the hardest part of an assignment is getting started. Just sit down and do it.
4. SELF-CARE. Please take a shower. Take a nap.
5. Eat in the dining hall. It can be tempting to just go to UnCommon and get something but don’t waste all of your money. If you’re on the go, get take out from the dining hall! Don’t forget, New Dorm Dining Hall is open until 8!

This weekend was South Asian Student’s (SAS) annual culture show. The theme this year was Dekh Magar Pyar Se, which in Hindi means ~loosely~ look, but look lovingly. As usual, the show was full of colorful clothes, fun Bollywood music, an energetic crowd, and of course delicious Indian food to follow.

Adding to the customary Bollywood dances and the Fashion Show finale, there were poems and a stand up routine. All in all it was a great time and I had only seen happy faces around (except for when we all waited in a very long line for the food!)

The show started off with the traditional welcome from the E-board- a video of what the theme means to them and their dance. The show continued with various performances including the graduating seniors, the first years, Mayuri and Afreen. Rhea Manglani ’17 recited a powerful and personal poetry and Sanya Aurora ’16 performed funny yet personal stand up which got a rouse from the crowd. There were two guest performances, both from Penn. PENNach (dance group) and Penn Atma (female acapella group) also performed. (To end the show, the annual fashion show happened when students (including yours truly), walked from the back of Goodhart to the stage twirling (and not falling) on the way!

The night was freezing, but it was tons of fun and the food was great, but the company was even better! Congrats to the SAS E-board and performers for a wonderful culture show!

It takes me about 20 minutes to get to Bryn Mawr from home. Even with that close distance, I get homesick quite a bit. I see my friends who come from places far aw

The distance between Bryn Mawr and my hometown.

ay like California and Chicago and often feel like I shouldn’t feel so homesick. I mean, technically I could go home whenever I want-but let’s be real. With all of the work that Bryn Mawr demands including exams, readings, problem sets, labs, etc. I have days where I can’t even call home, let alone get home (there is no direct train by the way.)

Me visiting a school in Florida my senior year of high school.

It can be exasperating getting the “well you live so close by,” or “you can go home whenever,” comments. Yeah I could, but I can’t. I came to college for the college experience. It isn’t my fault that Bryn Mawr College is close to where I live. I didn’t necessarily choose Bryn Mawr because of location (although I love Philly, and would hate to be elsewhere.) Truth be told, before coming to Bryn Mawr, I was getting ready to go to a school in Florida-a school that was 1,040 miles away.

There are definite pros to going to a school close to home. Getting home for breaks usually just depends  on when my parents can pick me up (again no direct trains to where I live). If I forget something at home/need something, I just need to coordinate with my parents to figure out how I could get it. But there are also a bunch of cons. I’m still in suburban Philadelphia. There isn’t much of a scene change for me which is something that I wanted when searching for schools. And again, I get the comments and looks of “you live close by, why are you complaining?” 

While I know how lucky I am to be going to a school close by, it doesn’t make the homesickness just go away. I get days where all I want to do is go home, just like students who are very far away from home too.