I can hardly believe that we are halfway through August; to me it seems like just yesterday I was packing my car and leaving Newark. And now, I only have two days left until I return to my home at the University of Delaware

I don’t know about you, but my summer (well, at least the first half) was jam-packed with activity. I spent the first six weeks being an Orientation Leader for Delaware’s New Student Orientation. This experience involved 5am wake-up calls, donning an awesome blue and gold polo and countless hours of dancing in public. It was easily the best job that I have ever had. I loved getting to wake up every morning, greet incoming students and welcome them to UD. It was a blast showing them all that campus has to offer and making them fall in love with our university.

After six weeks of laughing, answering questions and orienting, I had the chance to come back to the lovely state of New Jersey for the next four weeks. This was where my real summer began. I enjoyed the lovely, warm weather, spent time with my family and friends, and watched way too much TV. You could say it was major relaxation time before the start of another busy semester.

I was able to continue this major relaxation when I went on my annual family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. My parents have been traveling to North Carolina for vacation for the last twenty-four years and I have been every year of my life. Every year we stay in the same town (Corolla), on the same street, and in the same house. We also vacation with the same people: my immediate family and three of my dad’s brothers and their families, so it is a full house with twenty-five people and two dogs. Some consider this a lot of repetition for a vacation, but I enjoy it because of all of its time-honed traditions.

We spend almost the entire week on the beach. To be honest, I didn’t even leave the house to go anywhere but the beach. We are one of the first ones set up our tents/volleyball net around 9am and we close down around 7pm. They are long days peppered with a wide variety of sports games (handball is my favorite), kayaking, and reading romance novels with my toes in the ocean. This week is my favorite week of the year and I am grateful for the memories and the time that I get to spend with my siblings and cousins.

Is there a better place for rest and relaxation than the beach?

Although I have enjoyed my summer, I am excited to head back to the great state of Delaware. I may not be ready to get back into taking notes and writing papers, but I am certainly ready to see my friends and to feel that Blue Hen spirit again. I cannot wait to take on UD for Round 3!

~Rebecca Jaeger

College is a time for learning. From our first day on campus to our last, we are learning an exorbitant amount. Some of this knowledge is learned in a classroom, but the large majority of the lessons that we learn in college happen outside of it. We start by learning the basics: where buildings are, which dining hall is the best, how to get involved on campus. This is followed by deeper and tougher lessons about ourselves and about life.

For me, the most important lesson that I have learned since beginning college is the value of family. In comparison to today’s standards, I have a big family: three brothers and one sister. As we are very close in age, we spent quite a bit of time together growing up, both in school and at home. They were always the first ones that I saw in the morning and the last ones that I would say goodnight to.

Being away from my family was (and still is) a strange feeling. It was odd to get up in the morning without seeing any of them and going about my day by myself. It was definitely an adjustment to transition from being around them all the time to only seeing them on the occasional weekend. But, this experience has taught me a great deal about the value of family.

First, it taught no matter how far away I am, they will always be there for me. At school, I call my mom every day just to chat. Yes, I know this might seem excessive to some, but it is something very comforting for me. Plus, I give major props to my mom for being able to listen to me every night. Even last semester, when I was studying abroad in Spain, my family was always there to video chat or respond to my emails at crazy times. Of course, this also goes both ways. I spent many a night in Spain revising my one of my brother’s essays and helping another brother with his Spanish homework. Coming to college has taught me that no matter where I am, what the problem is, or what I need, my family will be there to make sure that I make it through.

 College has also shown me that one of the truly great things about family is that nothing ever changes (in a good way). And, that is something that I have come to cherish. Although my family is spread around the East Coast, whenever we are all able to get together, it is as if we were never separated. It is a beautiful thing to come home to and things immediately just fall back into the same rhythm of laughter and sarcasm. It is comforting to know that not only will my family always be there for me, but also our relationships will always be the same.

Although I miss my family while I am at school (and hope that they miss me), I know that I can always head back to the lovely town of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, where they will be waiting wit

h open arms, and chicken parm on the table.

Can you tell which one is Rebecca? (Hint: she’s on the far left)

~Rebecca Jaeger

I don’t know about you, but I am certainly ready for all of this snow to be gone. I have simply had enough of the constant wintry precipitation and the Polar Vortex that comes with it. Yes, I will agree that the UD campus looks marvelous covered in all that white stuff, but then again, this campus would probably look beautiful in the middle of a mudslide.

I will admit that while I was in Spain (where I thought 40 degrees was cold), I was wishing for snow. I looked jealously at all of the pictures taken on a snowy afternoon at UD and was incredibly envious when my siblings had their schools cancelled. But then, I returned home to New Jersey for winter break. And there, I got more winter weather than I asked for.

The wind was always biting, the air chilled to the bone, and there was always snow to shovel. I easily shoveled more snow this winter than I have in the last three combined. Sure, that was good for my biceps but not so conducive to my desire to stay indoors. Admittedly, there were some days that were so treacherous that I didn’t even leave the house, as I could not force myself to brave the cold.

I naively assumed that since it is March, all of this snow nonsense would be over and done with. Of course, I was wrong. I still bundle up to go outside and am constantly hoping that I will not fall flat on my face due to the icy sidewalks. So far I have succeeded, in case you were worried.

But now, after we have had two snow days and countless inches of snow, it is high time for it to start feeling like spring. No, I do not want to build a snowman or have to wear gloves all of the time. I am ready for the days were I can walk around campus feeling the sun on my face and not having to worry about frostbite.

But not to worry, the gorgeous spring days of Delaware are not to far out of our grasp (although it may feel like it). A few weekends ago, the sun was shining, it was above 40 degrees, and it seemed as if everyone on campus had come out of hibernation. Although those two days were quite a teaser, it is nice to know that good weather is on the horizon. After all, there are only 16 days until the first day of Spring (and free Rita’s!) and 24 days until Spring Break.

So, keep bundling up and pushing through this (hopefully last) week of cold weather, because before we know it we will be breaking out the flip-flops and playing Frisbee on the Green.

~Rebecca Jaeger