Getting back in the swing of school makes me really think about what I did over break–if I did everything I wanted to, if I relaxed, and most of all, if I’m ready to learn again.

Now, my thoughts are a bit different. I’ve finally realized that just because I’m not in school doesn’t mean I stop learning. No one does.

So, I want to share some of the most important, and a few funny, things I learned over break.

1. The young can do good for the old.

Recently my Grandma hasn’t been doing too well, having to go to a lot more doctors than usual. So, I had the pleasure, maybe, of taking her a few times. After I took her to the doctor one day, I felt like I needed to check on her the next. I’d taken her to get a knee brace, and she wasn’t particularly happy about it.

I went to her house, which is about 20 minutes away from mine, to check on her. She isn’t the type to smile, but the entire hour or so my brother and I were there, she was smiling and acting like she had a good time.

I’ve got to say the fact I could make her so happy kind of made my day. Trust me, she’s rarely happy.

2. Parents aren’t as stupid as we thought.

Back when I was in high school, I thought I was way smarter than my parents. I’m guessing most people do the same thing. I’ve finally realized they really are smart. They may not be “book smart,” but more than likely, if they’ve made it this far in life, they’re “common sense” smart.

3. Plans can change in a blink, but you have to accept it.

Okay, maybe I knew that, but break reinforced it. You can’t plan when something is going to take your attention away from what you had planned. Several times I planned to hang out with a friend, but ended up having to take someone in my family somewhere.

4. Vociferous is a word!

And, in a nutshell, it means noisy. And yes, I actually did learn that over break, from my younger brother too. I’m not the greatest at vocabulary, so learning new words is a big deal for me because I enjoy it. The really cool part is that I only learned what vociferous means because I used a “three dollar word,” as it was called in my elementary school, and my brother decided to show me up.

5. I can never actually make up the sleep I lost during the semester, but break is a great time to rest.

As hard as I try, whatever sleep I lost during the semester, I can’t seem to catch up during breaks. I guess the lost sleep isn’t all that important, but it seems like I would eventually catch up. There are actually studies showing that lost sleep can’t be made up, and you can’t get ahead on your sleep. However, sleeping in during break is amazing.

So maybe I didn’t learn conventional things, like how to weld or about the economy, but I learned things, and I’m quite sure, if you stop to think about it, you did too.