Auburn students have returned to campus for two final weeks of school before Christmas break.
With three and a half weeks of family bonding, holiday parties and family traditions to look forward to, many students will pack up and leave as soon as their last exam ends.
For other students, going home is not an option. Many of Auburn's international students will be staying in Auburn for the break, instead of reuniting with their families.
Shubbhi Taneja, graduate student in computer science, is from New Delhi. Taneja came to Auburn in July 2013.
"I had a few friends here, so they could help me, because I didn't have anybody else from my family in the United States," Taneja said. "I have a couple of friends from New Delhi here who were already studying here, they are part of an international exchange program so they had given me quite good reviews."
Taneja said she the temperature and weather conditions in Auburn are similar to New Delhi.
During the break, Taneja said she will mostly be in Auburn, but that she will travel in the United States as well. She said she had made plans to go to New York with friends during Christmas break, but they fell through.
"I'm going to go to Atlanta for two days and see all the famous places there," Taneja said. "But I haven't decided what I'm going to do on the 25th."
Amrit Singh, graduate student in mechanical engineering, is from New Delhi as well and is friends with Taneja. Singh said he may also visit Atlanta during the break to see the Coca-Cola factory and the Georgia Aquarium with his friends. For the rest of break, he will be working at a research lab.
Fujun Huang, graduate student in information and system management, is from Shenzhen, China. The last time he went home was May 2013, but he will be staying in Auburn for Christmas break because it is a shorter period.
Auburn's winter break is considerably shorter than past years because classes resumed a week later in August than other years.
Huang's break will consist of a lot of studying and paper grading, because he is a teacher's assistant for a business analytics class.
He is responsible for grading their final exams by Dec. 17, and giving feedback to the teacher. Huang has plans to travel after he finishes grading.
"Some friends and I, we plan to go to New York for a weekend," Huang said. "We like celebrating the new year in New York."
Huang has a certification exam in February, and he plans to study for that during the holiday as well. As for Christmas and Christmas Day plans, he will spend that with friends, maybe at his house for dinner.
"Around me there are a lot of Chinese who will go back to China to visit their families," Huang said. "This vacation is too short for me, so I will call my family and try to FaceTime with them."
Taneja said she is staying in Auburn during break because she doesn't want to spend so much money going back, but she hopes to go home next summer or Christmas break.
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