I’ll be completely honest. A week ago, that’s not a phrase I wanted to hear, or even think about. After three weeks of blissful vacation, filled with holidays and family and many more hours of sleep than I normally function on, I don’t think anyone really wanted to. And last Thursday morning, I pressed the all-enticing snooze button as many times as I could before I forced myself out of bed, dredged my way through my morning routine, took to the icy and snow-bank flanked streets of Easthampton, and groggily found my assembly seat, coffee in hand.

It’s not that I don’t like school. I have always loved going to Williston and any of my friends will tell you that I like being on campus so much, it’s annoying. I don’t usually find myself bored or disengaged in class, and usually I don’t even mind coming in for class on Saturdays (the fact that it’s only for one class may have something to do with this). Sure, homework is not my favorite thing, and the weekend always feels like the light at the end of the tunnel…but I enjoy school. I like being here.

But come on . . . it was a three week break. That’s three weeks of no homework, and days on end of free-time. We saw friends who we don’t get to see often as well as those we see every day. We lost sleep on New Years Eve, and gained it back the next day. We celebrated holidays with family and friends, and we geared up for an amazing 2013. And we didn’t have to do school work. After three weeks of that, who really has the drive to wake up on that first morning of classes? Lying in bed, I needed a reason to be happy to come back to school.

Here’s the good news: there are so many reasons. We still have so much to look forward to.

These winter and spring months will bring us two seasons of sports. The Laramie Project, the spring dance concert, and choral and band performances will take to the stage. Weekend activities keep rolling, and the Winter Ball is on its way. And let’s not forget that, from here on out, we have a break every month.

And before we know it, spring will spring, bringing the usual gust of energy back to campus, with Willy Gras and prom and the ever-anticipated graduation for the seniors. And then comes summer break: three months of that same wonderful feeling we’re all just shaking off now.

If nothing else, there’s your reason to get up in the morning. So bundle up for the second half of our school year. Ready or not, it’s here.