After a month-long winter break, Ithaca College students returned to classes on Tuesday, recharged and refreshed for yet another semester of procrastination.

Most students express mixed feelings about returning to college after such a long period of rest. While the college lifestyle allows for more personal freedom, vacations allow students to reconnect with their families and hometown friends. Junior Carl Slackerton summed those feelings up:

“I’m glad I’m back at school because now I don’t have to do chores like washing the dishes once every other week. But I miss home because no one makes me do boring stuff like read books there.”

Slackerton says that he was hopeful for a snow day after seeing a cloud in the sky Tuesday morning. When classes were indeed not canceled, Slackerton considered filing a complaint against the college, citing several icy patches of ground near Campus Center, but later decided he did not want to make the effort.

“I mean, being back at school is not all bad,” says Slackerton. “I enjoy seeing all of my friends. Back at home, there aren’t nearly as many people to mooch from.”

Slackerton mirrors the sentiment of many students on campus who wish that break had been just a week or two or three longer, or something like that.

“The holidays are so frenzied that I feel like I didn’t get to spend as much time with the people who matter the most, like Maury Povich or Judge Joe Brown,” he said. “And by the time those reruns of ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’ come on, my brother is home from middle school and I have to let him watch those dumb cartoons.”

Slackerton, learning from past mistakes, has come up with a plan to use his opportunities more wisely this semester.

“Last semester, I used all of my excused absences up in the first month. Rookie move. Now I’ll try to space them out and use them on days there is a paper due so I can get extensions. It’s just one of those tricks you pick up over time.”

Slackerton says that he has a lot to look forward to this semester, like spring break and summer vacation.

“The college should really consider canceling class on holidays like Presidents’ Day or Valentines Day or the Ides of March. You know, to break things up a bit,” he said.

“But I am glad we had Martin Luther King Day off. That three day weekend was really what I needed to get my head in the game.”