I’m sure the rest of the college students in the world can agree that finishing the semester at home last spring was trying to say the least. My roommate, Olivia, and I had talked over this past semester, wondering how the end of the semester was going to play out.
She, thankfully, invited me to spend Thanksgiving with her family at Cape Cod, about two hours from college. Olivia also invited me to stay for the following two weeks afterward. We called it studying abroad on the Cape. I was able to finish the last two weeks of classes and turn in most of my finals.
Coming from Florida, I am not used to experiencing an actual winter Thanksgiving. The chilly weather mixed with the holiday spirit just laid a layer of contentment and I guess something similar to happiness.
I also fell in love with one thing over those three weeks: Alexa.
Olivia’s family left back to their home after Thanksgiving. We were left for the remaining two weeks, having complete focus on school. We tried to go on at least one walk a day to get some fresh air and move around. If we weren’t up and about, you could usually find us on the couch for 80% of the day.
I also fell in love with one thing over those three weeks: Alexa. I had always looked on the product with love and hate because it seemed so easy just to tell it what to play or using its other features. And yet, I still had all that mumbo jumbo of “the FBI can hear me” in the back of my head. I mean it’s ridiculous, what the heck would the FBI care about me, I probably have one of the most ordinary lives for a 22-year-old.
I had risen one morning and done my whole routine. The windows in the dining room caught my eye. It looked like a winter wonderland outside. Snow covered everything. It was absolutely breathtaking. Later on in the day, we went for a walk on the beach. Being from Florida, I have seen my fair share of beaches but I have never seen any covered in snow.
…created our own broke college version of a charcuterie board.
Some evenings we decided to be “fancy” and created our own broke college version of a charcuterie board. It may not look like a lot but it was delicious!
Between eating, bumming out on the couch, and school, we worked on so many puzzles. I think Olivia and I had gone through four puzzles. Her dad even created a puzzle that was filled with a combination of photos from the previous Thanksgiving holiday that I spent with them.
Studying abroad on Cape Cod was serene with its breeze that brought the smell of the sea to the front door. There was a stillness in the air. We felt grounded with the fact no one was in a rush. We had just endured an entire semester that was continuously fast-paced.