Just take a Chill-Pill – simple, but great words of advice my Mum gives me every time I turn into a big, fat ball of stress – which is a frequent occurrence for someone like me, who’s biggest driver of study and work, is stress. I don’t think I can count the amount of times I’ve been so caught up in stress that my mind has literally reverted to the state of a brain-fart.

However, becoming a stress-beast is not a new thing for me – it’s something I dealt with throughout the whole of High School, and I’m still dealing with in University. But, one thing I will say is that the inter-semester break has got me feeling Zen on all kinds of levels. I’ve quickly learnt that the inter-semester break is a hidden gem of University – it’s like a Summer in Winter – a whole month void of study! #REJOICE

So currently, I am snug in my bed back in Gisborne, on a high dosage of chill, and I’m about to bust-a-blog on how I – the epitome of stress – has distressed over the first week of Inter-semester break.

The night of my last exam – so happy!

Fresh break + Friends
One of the first things I did when I got back into Gissy, was catch up with my best friend! Our time together has consisted of late night movies, cocktails with our Mums and of course a night out on the town – where we hit up two of Gisborne’s best and only clubs. Catching up with an old friend has given me a good opportunity to really step back from Uni, and just talk about stuff that doesn’t revolve around study! I think it’s essential to keep in contact with the good friends you make in High School, because sometimes there’s nothing better than reminiscing and having a good yarn to someone who could give less of a hoot about your GPA.

Pre-town selfie in Gissy!

Location, location
As you can imagine, the atmosphere in Auckland City differs greatly to that of Gisborne. Skyscrapers and Lamborghinis hidden down random streets v.s beaches and horses in the McDonald’s drive through – an easy guess of what city matches each depiction, I’m sure. As I like to tell my friends from outside of Gissy, we’ve only got two sets of traffic lights in our town, meaning it’s as small as ever, but man is it an awesome place to go back to! Auckland is crazy big and fast paced – it’s a good place to be if you’re student who has a study schedule that fits that exact description. However, when a break is needed, Gissy is the perfect location. Some say that Gissy is so chilled out, that if it were even more laid back, it’d be moving backwards; And I can honestly say, after the stress that came with Semester 1, I couldn’t think of a better way to be living at this moment in time.

Views from home that I’ll be waking up to instead of Auckland City.

Family Time
One thing that never ceases to relax me, is time with the fambam! For some, moving away to Uni, can be a stressful event in itself – and being back home, with your Family is obviously the perfect cure. As I mentioned, the beauty of inter-semester break sits in the fact that you can enjoy your time without having to worry about assignments, tests or study. This has been great for me, as unlike mid-semester break, I have actually been able to come home and enjoy my time with my family and friends.

Dad teaching my nephew Tamateatutahi how to play Solitaire on the computer – such a cute little visitor!

I can not stress (weak pun, I know) the importance of letting yourself recharge and relax in inter-semester break! Whether your idea of escaping study is going back to your hometown, or just remaining in the hustle and bustle of Auckland – having a break, and taking a chill pill is a great idea if you’re planning on surviving Uni for the long run.

Until next time my fellow bloggies! xx

– Rebekah