5 Things to Try During Winter Break
Finals have concluded. The seemingly endless stream of readings, papers, projects, and exams has ceased for the moment. Another term is behind the college students of America.
Some students will go home for the holidays. Some will stay in their dorm or apartment. Certainly, everyone will find themselves attending parties, catching a movie, stuffing themselves silly, or watching football until their eyes glaze over. At some point during the next few weeks, inevitably, the question will arise: "So now what?" For hard-working students used to having too little time, this question can induce uneasiness and even panic. For others, elation and celebration.
Should you find yourself with nothing to do- heaven forbid- over the break, check out my list below of things to do when you have nothing else to do over the holidays: 
1. Test the matches-turning-into-the Eiffel-Tower thing.
Once upon a time, a well-respected scientist stated that the chances are higher that there is extraterrestrial life in the universe than if you threw a bunch of matches into the air and had them come down in a perfect likeness of the Eiffel Tower. This, then, begs the question: just how likely is that? Well, since you’ve got some time on your hands, you can do mankind a great service and find out.
It’s simple: just keep throwing those matches up again and again. Using a spreadsheet, keep track of the times they come down in the shape of the Eiffel Tower versus they times they don’t. With a little perseverance and a lot of time, you might finally solve this age-old mystery and potentially find yourself in the running for a Nobel prize next to Mr. Gore. With this vital information, we could finally get this space program thing moving. And you, my friend, would become the Columbus of your time over the course of one holiday break. 
2. Break the record for number of times watching A Christmas Story in one sitting.
Every year, over one tortuous week, certain cable channels play the Christmas "classic" (which is code for "so over-watched that no one watches it") A Christmas Story back to back to back. So, just in case someone missed the first, second, or twelfth airing of the film, they can still catch it. So, it stands to reason that someone must have made a world record out of how many times someone has sat down and watched the cursed thing back to back.
Are you ready to have the title ‘World-Record Holder’ after your name? This task is not for the faint of heart. The human brain has a certain threshold for how many times it process that phrase "you’ll shoot your eye out" before it triggers seizures. Even the very cinematography of the film, with its holiday ’70s kitsch dripping from every frame, can drive one to near insanity over several viewings. If you are to attempt this feat, please do some preliminary exercises. Your warm-up films should be appropriately cliched, annoying, and kitschy. Some great warm-ups are The Wizard of Oz (1939), Annie (1982), and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971).
3. Attempt the Leche Challenge.
For the uninitiated, this challenge consists of one person sitting down with a gallon-sized jug of vitamin D milk and attempting, over the course of an hour, to drink the entire gallon. Because of an adverse reaction between large amounts of milk and the stomach juices, most people find themselves too full after only half a gallon to finish the rest. The milk doesn’t digest fast enough to finish the entire gallon within an hour. I’ve personally seen people rushed to the bathroom as the milk runs out of space in the stomach. Nasty stuff!
But if you have a larger stomach than normal and you’re ready to be recognized for it, grab a gallon of Vitamin D milk (no cheating with that skim stuff), a stopwatch, and a friend, and get ready for an intense hour. Consider throwing in a wager for some additional excitement. You will return to school with a new badge of honor. 
4. Create your own sequel to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Haven’t you ever wondered what happened to Rudolph, Clarice, Hermey, Yukon Cornelius, the Abominable Snowman, and all those crazy misfit toys? Does the yeti go berserk and start eating elves and reindeer, Jurassic Park-style? Does Yukon trick Hermey into a scheme to overthrow the Santa monopoly once and for all? Ah, the possibilities. That’s why it’s way past time for the beloved, stop-motion classic to be retired. It came out in 1964, for goodness sake.
The good news is, you can be the one to create the sequel. All it takes is your parents’ garage, some clay, a camera, lots of film, and lots of white powder. And at 24 frames per second to be created and shot (that would mean roughly 64,800 frames for an hour-long TV special), this would be especially time-consuming. But that’s what you were looking for, right? 
5. Perform a random act of kindness.
Okay, so this what you really should be doing (as opposed to watching with glee as your friend throws up chunks of curdled milk). With some free time on your hands, why not help your elderly neighbor with their garbage? Why not stop to help that guy with the flat tire in the snow storm? Why not volunteer at a soup kitchen? The holidays are a great time to make the world a better place without people looking at you like you’re mentally disturbed. You may not get a Nobel prize or earn a new world-record-holder title, but this one’s guaranteed to be worth your time.
About the author
Marcus Varner earned his BA in English from Brigham Young University with a Creative Writing emphasis. He is currently in his second year at BYU’s lauded MBA program studying Marketing. He blogs, writes fiction and screenplays, loves movies, and can’t resist playing superheroes with his kids.
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