Fill out our Daily Orange reader survey to make our paper better


Humor Column

The time period between Thanksgiving and Winter Break is the most awkward of your college career

Paul Schlesinger | Asst. Photo Editor

Humor columnist Annabeth Grace Mann breaks down the awkward time period between the return from Thanksgiving break and the end of finals.

Welcome back, everyone. After that week-long break, it’s nice being back in Syracuse, right? You’re probably so happy to be back and excited to take on the rest of the semester.

But we all know this isn’t true. Three words describe this return: confused, awkward and middle-school. Is that four words?

Break was basically just a big prank made up by Chancellor Kent Syverud, as he plotted in his office.

“Let’s make them think they don’t have any more work to do this semester by sending them home for a week. Then let’s force them to come back to a now snow-filled Syracuse and bombard them with hour-long tests.”

I don’t know about you guys, but after doing nothing for an entire week, I sort of forget how to do work. I’ve probably used the thesaurus tool about 10 times already as I’ve been writing this article and had to Google how to spell Syverud’s name. So, having to come back to Syracuse and start studying for finals, I really have no clue what I’m doing.



We also need to remember there are only three weeks left of the semester. So it won’t be long until we go home and uncomfortably sit in our beds for a month rewatching at least a few Netflix series.

There are two options for going about this three-week-long period: We go hard and party or we study for our finals. If you do decide to go hard, you’ll probably overdo it.

And how is one supposed to resist these mumps-ridden parties? The mumps aren’t going to be at Syracuse forever, people. This may be our last chance to contract them. So get to those frats early, before they’re all gone.

So you’re going to be confused about how to behave yourself during these three weeks and awkwardly attempt to do so, which brings me to middle school. This next chapter is basically like middle school — there’s no denying it. First because you’re definitely going to post something on social media that you’ll later regret.

Come the week before finals, I guarantee you’ll see at least five Snapchat stories containing a selfie saying “finals got me like” or some variation of that phrase. You might even do it yourself. At the time, it may seem like a good idea, but chances are you’ll look back on it later and think to yourself, “Why wasn’t I studying,” or “Who the hell cares that I had a final? We all had finals.”

Due to the stress of finals, some changes in appearance may occur. In middle school, you probably went through at least one weird phase: You may have went emo, you may have attempted to become a hipster or you may have used the phrase “rawr xD” way too often.

I hate to break it to you, but you’re about to go through another one right now. You may forget to shower some nights, do laundry or look presentable. Then, when you wake up the next morning to attend your class, your eyes will have black circles around them from your makeup and you’ll probably throw on a random shirt and not realize until you get to class that it’s inside out.

But don’t worry, it’s a “fashion statement.”

Many people say your college days are your glory days, so buckle in, folks. These three weeks right here are going to be your prime — whether you like it or not. So before you start bashing your awkward, middle-school self, take a step back and learn to appreciate that stressed out, socially confused version of yourself.

You may be stuck with them for a little while.





Top Stories