Wishing You a Restful Holiday

Artwork created by Rutgers–New Brunswick students: "Old Queens Postcard" by Srija Kolluri, Class of 2029 and "Snowy Gate" by Anna Dziedzi, Class of 2027

December 19, 2025

Dear Rutgers–New Brunswick Community,

The end of the fall semester always arrives with a kind of exhale. Papers submitted, grades finalized, projects wrapped—and suddenly the campus quiets. I've come to appreciate that stillness. A community that has given everything it has, finally resting.

We live in a culture that treats rest as something to earn, as if exhaustion were a prerequisite for permission to stop. But what I've learned, both as a psychologist and as someone who has pushed through more seasons than I should have, is that rest is what makes good work possible in the first place.

So, if you're heading into the break with a to-do list that follows you home, I'm asking you to set it down, just for now. The research will be there in January. The projects will wait. The problems we're solving—and there are so many worth solving—will benefit from minds that have had a chance to wander, to play, to simply be.

For some, the break means finally sleeping past an alarm. For others, it's a kitchen full of family and noise, or solitude after months of being surrounded by people. Whichever you need, I hope you take it.

Thank you for all you've given this year. Rest well, and I’ll see you in January, ready for what’s next.

With gratitude,

Francine Conway, Ph.D.
Chancellor and Distinguished Professor
Rutgers University–New Brunswick