Study Break: 11 College Tales from Orientation to Graduation


 Contents
 
 Title Page
 Copyright Notice
 Dedication
 Fall Semester
 
 Fall
 August: The Ultimate Guide to Orientation
 September: Shofar, So Good
 October: Fall Once More
 November: Powder
 December: Sophomore Slump
 December: The Final Countdown
 
 
 Spring Semester
 
 Winter/Spring
 January: Rani’s Resolutions
 February: Heavy Rotation
 March: Ruby
 April: Momo’s Epic Rescue
 May: Begin Again
 Summer
 
 
 College Advice: From Studying to Connecting (and More)
 Acknowledgments
 About the Contributors
 Newsletter Sign-up
 Copyright
 
 
 
 Guide
 
 Cover
 Start of Content
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Fall Semester
 Fall
 Acknowledgments
 Contents
 Copyright
 
 
 
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 iv
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Begin Reading
 Table of Contents
 About the Contributors
 Copyright Page
 
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 The author and publisher have provided this e-book to you for your personal use only. You may not make this e-book publicly available in any way. Copyright infringement is against the law. If you believe the copy of this e-book you are reading infringes on the author’s copyright, please notify the publisher at: us.macmillanusa.com/piracy.
 
 
 
 Dear reader,
 All books begin with an idea, and this book had a particularly unique conception. Study Break began in perhaps one of the most Gen-Z ways possible: from a tweet, a quote retweet, and a ton of DMs. In the spring of 2021, Camryn Garrett sent off a tweet wishing there would be more space for novels set in college in the Young Adult category. Ananya Devarajan quote retweeted it: “Imagine … an anthology of diverse college stories that all connect by the end. If this does become a thing, PLEASE LET ME WRITE IT.”
 And so, it began.
 Now, this book is a time capsule: All twelve authors in this anthology were either in college or recently graduated at the time we wrote these stories. Those moments in time and in our lives are preserved in this collection.
 Space for college-based stories in YA is increasing, and we are proud to contribute to that goal. It has been an honor to work to bring something that started as a series of tweets into book form for you to read. Shaping this collection as editor has been a great privilege of my life, and the authors of Study Break have made the work so fulfilling.
 Thank you to Camryn and Ananya for lighting the spark, and to you, reader, for keeping the fire going.
 Welcome to the University of Milbridge. We are so excited to have you.
 
 
 
 
 FALL SEMESTER
 
 
 
 
 FALL
 
 Catch You on the Quad
 By Oyin
 I.
 
 Imagine, for a moment, lazy summer days falling
 crisp; oranges browns olives reigning
 on August’s parade; a campus
 beaming with buildings
 that hold answers, dorms that house questions; wishes dropped
 into a creek with the tiniest bridge;
 manicured lawns teeming with magnolia
 trees, bursting with bodies dancing
 about its grounds, shimmying
 with overstuffed boxes and suitcases
 to Desai, to Greathouse;
 the buzz of voices coasting above
 eager fields and streets with instructions
 to call every day, focus in class, attend club
 meetings, feast in fabled Café,
 get sorted in financial aid, throw (pity) parties;
 imagine: the rookies
 just out of high school
 classes and clubs, homecoming,
 payments for this and that and that and this,
 deadlines, prom, graduation, homeleaving;
 there’s a newness: in their eyes,
 in shiny not-yet-swiped ID cards,
 in secret trips, in nerves floating
 around Polaroids freshly placed on plaster
 walls and fairy lights illuminating;
 imagine, veterans returning
 from summer spent battling
 heat-induced fatigue, fighting
 hometown friends (or ex-friends),
 strategizing with lovers
 (or those soon-to-be), dueling
 parents (or the ones who stepped up)
 for approvals on transfers and altars to uncommon saviors—
 only to hear the rallying call
 of former classmates and former roommates
 wheeling borrowed blue bins almost as old
 as the universe seeing the birth of Milbridge,
 only to realign with the campus itself:
 its bronzed moose guard still, in anticipation
 of high fives and fist bumps and double taps
 for luck, its