As I type this blog post, I am settling back into my Monday morning routine of sipping coffee, checking my email, and looking ahead to what I have going on this week. We are all a little slow-moving on campus this morning because it is our first day back from Spring Break! While the weather doesn’t quite make it feel like spring has arrived in Greenville, many of my friends and I traveled to places much colder and much warmer. From skiing in Montana to road trips to South Florida, the Dins scattered far and wide to get a much-deserved break from the daily grind at Furman.
A group of friends and I chose the latter and found ourselves in Tampa, Florida at the beginning of break. We hit the road on Friday after classes and headed south, eventually settling into the home of my sophomore year roommate. One of the perks of being a Furman student is having friends that live across the country and being able to visit their homes; it was a treat to see where Rachel grew up. After a lazy Saturday morning of wandering around her neighborhood and swimming in their pool, our group of eleven packed up for the next leg of our trek: driving two hours further to Placida, Florida. Rachel’s family has friends with a house in Placida and were generous enough to let us stay and enjoy beach life for a few weeks. With luggage and groceries in hand, we hopped on a water taxi that delivered us to the dock of the home that we stayed at. With the dock on one side of the house and the beach on the other, we had the perfect setting for a fun and restful break.
We played games, read books (not for class!), swam in the ocean, and napped in the sand. Every afternoon some played Spikeball while others threw frisbee, eventually reuniting by taking a swim break, or bodysurfing if the waves cooperated. We created groups for dinner and rotated who cooked each night, giving each of us the opportunity to prepare dinner for one another. Some of the guys caught catfish while on the island and we had fish tacos on our last night! It was exactly the break I needed to return to Furman energized and ready to continue working hard.
My favorite part of the break was opportunity I had to reflect on the friendships I have built since moving to Greenville for my undergraduate years. Two of these friends lived on my freshman hall, six of us have been sorority sisters for years, and almost every one of these friendships formed within my first year at Furman. After a week full of fun and memory-making, I can’t help but smile when thinking about how these friendships will grow long after our days at Furman come to an end. Here’s to the beginning!
Until next time,
Colleen