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Good morning, everyone. It�Ӱ�ԭ��s a beautiful day in New Haven, and as I�Ӱ�ԭ��m reflecting on what I�Ӱ�ԭ��ve done over spring break, I�Ӱ�ԭ��m quite happy with what I did and did not accomplish. I�Ӱ�ԭ��ll explain more on that later.

Spring breaks have always been dull for me. It�Ӱ�ԭ��s always involved going home and doing basically nothing. Maybe there would be a NYC trip with my parents, or a plant expedition with my mom, but it was nothing really out of the ordinary.

But this spring break? I bought myself a round-trip change of pace: New Hampshire. I�Ӱ�ԭ��d be visiting some family up there in hopes of catching up on the hours of lost sleep and sanity I�Ӱ�ԭ��d lost this semester. It would be my first time traveling alone too, and that was a little anxiety-inducing, not gonna lie. What if I got lost? What if I missed my station? What if, I don�Ӱ�ԭ��t know, the train got stopped by bandits? (Indiana Jones is very educational about train threats!).

Then it�Ӱ�ԭ��s Friday morning, and I�Ӱ�ԭ��m zipping up my suitcase. I could do this. Probably. Maybe. It�Ӱ�ԭ��s fine. Totally fine. I�Ӱ�ԭ��m a woman in STEM. I melted fish. Surely, I could navigate a train station of all things.

So, I get to the train station and I�Ӱ�ԭ��m walking toward the massive screen with the train times and such, and I find myself thinking:

Hey, I know that pair of boots. And that hairstyle. Wait a minute �Ӱ�ԭ��

�Ӱ�ԭ��C�����ٱ����?�Ӱ�ԭ��

Caitlyn �Ӱ�ԭ�� thank God it was actually her and not some other random schmuck �Ӱ�ԭ�� turns around and waves at me, grinning.

�Ӱ�ԭ��Oh, hey!�Ӱ�ԭ��

I smiled back. This trip was off to a better start than I could�Ӱ�ԭ��ve hoped.

By the time I arrived in Brattleboro, VT, I was fairly stuck to my seat. The scenery on the way up to New Hampshire was absolutely gorgeous: rolling, golden fields, farms filled with well-groomed horses, swishing their tails as they grazed. Caitlyn had gotten off in Hartford to catch a flight, leaving me with my laptop, a book that I didn�Ӱ�ԭ��t touch, and homework that I was procrastinating on doing.

I was also sweating profusely as I hadn�Ӱ�ԭ��t accounted for how stuffy a train can be. Yikes.

Needless to say, soon enough I�Ӱ�ԭ��m swept up in the comfort of my aunt and uncle's home and I�Ӱ�ԭ��m grinning ear-to-ear. Do I smell like a sweaty teenager? Probably, but whatever: I was far too happy to care. Yes, New Hampshire was not Florida, and the weather wasn�Ӱ�ԭ��t fantastic (AKA no hiking or hammocking), but it was a place with family, and that was enough for me.

The only issue was that I had no clue how to take a break.

Originally, I was going to pitch research �Ӱ�ԭ�� meaning that I was basically cramming a ton of research and proposal writing instead of resting �Ӱ�ԭ�� but at one point, I sort of...gave in. And not as in �Ӱ�ԭ��give up�Ӱ�ԭ�� (I didn�Ӱ�ԭ��t finish my proposal for a couple of reasons), but rather I napped. I ate good food. I stayed up until 1 a.m. watching Jurassic World and had as much banana bread as I wanted to. I talked with my aunt about how dumb women�Ӱ�ԭ��s pant sizes are and how hard it can be to accept one�Ӱ�ԭ��s body. Other times, I spoke with my uncle about longevity, and he told me to not stress about it �Ӱ�ԭ�� literally. Stress denatures the proteins in your body.

I�Ӱ�ԭ��m serious. Google it and find a PubMed or National Institutes of Health article. Be shocked. Tell your friend your discovery and see that they hit you with, �Ӱ�ԭ��You didn�Ӱ�ԭ��t know that?�Ӱ�ԭ�� and proceed to feel dumb. Anyhow.

This spring break was not only a chance for me to get some traveling done, but to also come to realize what rest actually is. Rest can be taking a lot of naps, yes, but it�Ӱ�ԭ��s also spending your time with the people you love and doing the things you love. Unfortunately, I only came to this conclusion the last day I was there before heading back to UNewHaven. I�Ӱ�ԭ��d spent the majority of my break doing my taxes (not friendly), doing �Ӱ�ԭ��research�Ӱ�ԭ�� (AKA me going around in circles and not getting my brain to work at all), hanging out with Teddy �Ӱ�ԭ�� my aunt and uncle�Ӱ�ԭ��s massive dog �Ӱ�ԭ�� and contemplating life.

There are many things that I need to work on for myself but being able to just get away from school for a while was worth it.

I hope everyone had a lovely break, and that the return to school is gentle.

With peace, love, and peanut butter,
Beatrice

Beatrice Glaviano �Ӱ�ԭ��26 is a nutrition sciences major at the University of New Haven.