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The vac to-do list

Ah, and so we made it. Another eight weeks of non-stop madness. That is to say, a serious lack of sleep, an overload of essays (sugar + caffeine, we thank you) and one too many post-bop hangovers. Well, we did it. We’re still here – cue Beyoncé’s I’m a Survivor – and we haven’t annoyed our tutors that much.  And so the vac has finally come. If you are a humanities student, like myself, then I’m sure you have the absolute pleasure of reading [insert impossible number here] books before April.  Nevertheless, since it is the holiday that can most definitely wait. During term, there are always ‘tasks’ to do, but what about during the vac? ‘Tasks’ is a rather unfavourable word. There are, however, some necessary ‘criteria’ to get the most out of the vac….

  1. HIJACK THE FAMILY FRIDGE. Term time = student kitchen = gone off milk and perhaps some left over cereal for breakfast. Come the vacation, the fridge is well stocked, mum/dad’s the cook and you don’t have to pay. If there was ever an excuse to feast like a Roman this is it.
  2. MEET UP WITH OLD FRIENDS. There’s nothing quite like having a proper catch up with your friends from home, allowing you to vent any uni stress and reminisce over THAT guy you used to ‘fancy’…
  3. MAKE THE MOST OF WHERE YOU LIVE. Londoner? Take a trip to Selfridges and treat yourself to afternoon tea with the ma. Live in the countryside? There’s nothing like a walk in the fresh air to clear the mind. Situated in a town or village? Grab some mates and visit that local pub/restaurant you’ve been meaning to go to but never got round to. Embrace your surroundings!
  4. WARDROBE CLEAR OUT. Maybe this is just because I love clothes (so much so that I end up keeping virtually everything I own, no matter how old….). These six weeks are the perfect time to have a complete wardrobe clear out, keeping only the clothes that you actually intend on wearing.
  5. CATCH UP ON NETFLIX. With time on our hands, why wouldn’t you spend a whole day in bed watching just about every episode of Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones?
  6. DENTIST/OPTICIAN/HAIR CUT APPOINTMENT. Okay admittedly a bit of an uncool one, but during term time who seriously has the time to book an eye test when you are literally up to your eyes (pardon the pun) in work? The holiday is the perfect time to get this type of nagging thing sorted.

And finally…

7. SLEEP. A pretty obvious one and by this time in the vac, probably something you have already done a lot of. Well sleep some more. Become a cat. Cat nap. Make up for all those boozy 3am nights. Scientists – lie in! Enjoy the luxury of not having those 9am lectures. If you do nothing else this holiday make sure to sleep.

 Thank you and good night.

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