Holiday season is a beautiful thing isn’t it? Though it serves as breaks in between classes, it is also the long-awaited reunion of extended relatives. A plethora of political affiliations come together and enjoy a nice, home cooked, passive-aggressive dinner. The atmosphere is filled with formalities that slip away as the third glass of wine is poured. Uncles and aunts shock you with their yearly findings on the utterly reliable, fact-checked Facebook. Sometimes you’re bombarded with questions about the future that you haven’t let yourself think about. It’s somehow astonishing to your grandparents how your major doesn’t automatically give you a 25 year plan with a mortgage and a car lease lined up. Oh, and what about a significant other? They might feel saucy and pinpoint the evident lack of romance in your life on top of everything else.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are like social olympics. No matter how hard you seem to train yourself for the next season, some member of the family catches you so entirely off guard, and all that work disintegrates, similar to how America feels when a country with the population of Connecticut steals the gold medal. 

I think we’re all brave for going home during these trying times. The dinner table can hardly stay civil in this economy. We know what we’re getting into, and for the sake of good sleep and food, we stick it out, year after year. The worst part may only be a couple days, but I swear I live lifetimes within each day. I know we are all looking forward to winter break and simultaneously dreading these interactions (though there are always the lucky exceptions). Unlike Thanksgiving, winter break is weeks rather than days. The obligated day(s) of socialization are minute in proportion to the days without it. If we made it out alive the last time, we can do it again. Everyone comes back more socially resilient and patient. I feel like we all deserve one of those “life is good” shirts that reads “hometown heroes” across the chest.