My Winter Break- Part I
Fátima reminisces about how she spent her first winter break on campus.
Fátima reminisces about how she spent her first winter break on campus.
While most Carls spend their winter break outside of campus, participating in externships, visiting their hometowns, or simply taking time off academics, some of us decide to call Carleton home for those six weeks. Staying on campus over the break was a scary decision to make, but looking back I can confidently say it was the right one for me.
My first-ever Thanksgiving!

Because of how the trimester system is set up, our winter break begins just in time for one of the biggest holidays in the country—Thanksgiving! Though I had never celebrated it before, I was blessed with the opportunity to join Holly (executive director of Project Friendship) and her family for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. We had some delicious food, played fun games, and I fell in love with pumpkin pie. I rate it an overall success.
Touring the Twin Cities

The highlight of my break was undoubtedly the days I spent in the Twin Cities. I met up with some friends from high school in Minneapolis, where we spent a week discovering all that the city had to offer. We went to the Mall of America (twice!), explored the beautiful Minnehaha Falls, and spent an entire day walking around Saint Paul, where we even got a chance to tour Macalester College. Getting out of campus and reconnecting with old friendships helped me clear up my mind and get ready for a busy break ahead.

Working in the Mail Office
My main motivation to stay on campus was the opportunity to earn some money and keep myself busy over the long break. I got super lucky with a full-time position as a mail office clerk. It was quite eye-opening to realize how much hard work and planning goes into making sure we get our packages and mail in time. Doing deliveries around campus and helping people find their packages was a lot more fun than I expected, even if it was a little tough.
What I thought was going to be a boring, monotonous job turned out to be a fantastic experience to learn about the inner workings of the college, bond with some incredible people, and grow in my appreciation for everyone who keeps the mail office running!
Fátima strives to learn everything about everything, but is especially interested in Sociology/Anthropology, Psychology, and Disney! As a freshman, she can’t wait to introduce her peers to her native Guatemalan culture, put in practice her newly acquired ASL skills, and play in the snow for the first time. In her free time, Fátima can be found watching cartoons, poorly playing the ukulele, or desperately missing her dog, Cosmo. Meet the other bloggers!