With the Easter holiday disappearing at a concerningly rapid pace (I hope you can sense the fear in my tone as a third year), it’s time to think about how to spend your last shred of freedom before the dreaded exams.

The workload never truly leaves you

“I’ll certainly be thinking of all of my fellow dissertation soldiers this holiday”

Navigating the minefield that is revision, coursework, and dissertation is not for the weak (me, I fear), but it’s something that unfortunately cannot be ignored. So, let’s get it out of the way quickly. There’s no point ignoring the fact that the Easter holidays is prime time for getting stuck into revision, even if it’s just to make you feel a slightly decreased sense of dread upon your arrival back in Cam. With this being my first year doing coursework (don’t ask why I thought it was a good idea to try something new the one year it actually counts), this impending doom has an earlier deadline this year, so the lock-in is going to have to be massive. I’ll certainly be thinking of all of my fellow dissertation soldiers this holiday. Now, trust me when I say I understand the lack of motivation that hits the minute you walk through the front door of your house, but for the sake of your degree, I beg you, don’t let it win!

Reconnect with nature (the home town)

Whether it consists of busy streets, tourists and museums, or fields, charity shops, and pubs, the hometown is a part of who we are. The holidays are a time to reconnect with this side of yourself, ditch the Sidge girl scarf and the Blank Street (unless you’re a North Londoner), and become one with the hometown again. Realistically, all this consists of is going to the local Spoons and seeing at least eight people that you really wished you’d never see again, probably getting too drunk, and then ending up in whatever local club your town has to offer. And as much as the thought of that does not sound appealing to me as I write this, I know my future. The thing getting me through it all is the thought of seeing the little faces of my home friends – and more importantly, making sure they give me all the gossip from the past term, because it just doesn’t feel the same when it’s over the phone.

Cambridge reunion

“making sure to reunite with your Cambridge cohort can definitely help to pass the time a little faster”

Now maybe it’s just me (although I doubt it), but the thought of being away from my little Cambridge bubble and the people that exist in it for a whole month is actually nauseating at times. The end of term marks the weird transition from being able to see your friends whenever you want, to having to make a dent into your life savings in order to afford the (definitely delayed, probably cancelled) train across the country just to see them for a day or two. As much as the logistics can be a nightmare, and there’s always the one friend who insists they cannot be away from their revision for more than 48 hours or the world will cease to exist, making sure to reunite with your Cambridge cohort can definitely help to pass the time a little faster.

Rest up

Although it may sound like the Easter holiday may bring with it an endless amount of either work or socialising, I am here to remind you of one more very important, potentially the most important actually, thing you should do this holiday: rest. Easter term, in my experience, brings both the most stress but also the most fun of the whole year. And though the latter sounds more appealing than the former, both can require a pretty similar amount of energy. So, whether it’s on a beach somewhere (I’m way too scared of my dissertation for this), in college, or in your childhood bedroom, make sure you get a rest this holiday.