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The year is chugging along, and semester break has come and gone. Here are a few things I do to stay relaxed and feel recharged for the second half of semester. Whilst it sometimes feels like university never stops, it is always good to catch my breath during the mid-semester break. It is a chance to plan for the looming workload in the second half of the semester and catch up on some things I want to do for myself.

As always, it goes too quickly and I can often find myself thinking, what have I even accomplished? However, with such a full-on semester during arguably quite full-on times (what with a pandemic and all) I am finding a semester break is less about getting things done and more about finding myself relaxed, calmed, and recharged.

Cooking

I love cooking. One thing I possibly love more than cooking, is eating. Thankfully, the two often go hand in hand. The cooking highlights of my holidays featured home made pasta sheets and ravioli, vegan ice cream and a ricotta tomato tart. The pasta sheets took me while to roll out and get the hang of but once I had the process became quicker and quicker. Next came another long task, cutting out and shaping the ravioli from the sheets. This took me nearly all day. Once I had done so, I filled them with a pumpkin and fetta filling I had made and cooked them until al dente (until they were floating on the top of the well-seasoned boiling water). Finally, I finished them off in a simple sage butter sauce. Other than being really proud of myself, they tasted amazing! The reward was well worth the wait and the time.

Nature

I try to find myself outside and in nature as much as possible. When I am studying full time, I don’t always have the time to go for a long hike and find some new hidden gems. However, on my semester break I was able to explore the botanic gardens, go for a few hikes and explore some new places. April is always such a great time to be out adventuring. It is starting to cool but is not too cold and the sun is losing the intense summer heat.

Media

As always, sinking my teeth into a good Netflix series, movie or book can be a really simple yet rewarding thing to do during my semester break. I also love a good movie night. It’s not just watching a film, but the whole process of collating snacks, blankets and pillows and choosing a film I what makes the event good fun. As a terrible piece of Hollywood, Americanised drama, myself and some friends indulged ourselves with Kong vs Godzilla. This was matched with some popcorn, chips, and ice cream! The movie was really bad in my opinion. However, it was great having people together to laugh at Hollywood tropes, bad acting and unexplained plot holes whilst enjoying a buffet of snacks.

As I prepare to knuckle down for the next half of the semester, I may not have accomplished much on my break but, I enjoyed it none the less and am feeling recharged and ready for round two.