Every October, Holy Cross is blessed with a beautiful time period called “October Break.” Not everyone has it, as it is randomly in the middle of first semester. This time for the average students usually means sitting at home with your family while none of your friends are home, or taking this opportunity to go visit friends at other schools. This glorious 10 day time period is something every Holy Cross student looks forward to. Unfortunately, student athletes do not have the luxury of this break. We are graced with an exceptional one day off to go home, and then we head back to an empty campus to begin a grueling week of double sessions. Every day. Shoutout to my favorite trio of sisters, helping me out to allow others to understand the struggle this week has to offer.
Fall break begins just when you think you have survived hell week, consisting of every one of your professors assigning every possible assignment they could possibly think of in a 5 day period, so hours of rest, sense of reality, and the ability to function are at all time low. Any plans of going home for our one day off means nothing but catching up on sleep.
Although it's just one day, the time away from your team feels like an eternity. Once we all arrive back on campus we reunite as if we have been away on a five year voyage.
Getting back into the swing of things with practice creates a quick reminder of how long of a week this truly is. You immediately find yourself ever regretting showing up for practice in the first place.
As much as you can prepare for fall break, each year it always seems harder and harder with the practice schedule. Ugly crying faces are more than likely to appear if it starts to get overwhelming, but that's okay, we’ve all been there.
The extensive schedule seems to do nothing over the week but confirm everyone’s love of food. Despite Kimball’s lack of variety in what is served, the action of shoveling food into our mouths occurs at every meal, and the addiction is real.
At times, fall break can feel as if you are trapped on campus. The everyday schedule of living in your dorm and going to practice can start to take its toll on you. This being said, coffee runs quickly become the highlight of your day, which also turn into joy rides as you refuse to go back onto campus for as long as possible.
When you are not going on coffee runs, you are using every piece of you to make it back to your bed for that wonderful nap you have scheduled in between every practice before you fall asleep at the lunch table.
After those wonderful, daily routine naps are complete, food immediately is back on your radar before you can even think about getting ready for the next double session.
There is truly nothing more exciting than receiving that beautiful email that informs you that your team is going apple picking, realistically the only recreational activity you are allowed for a week. The endless apples, cider donuts, ability to run free through the orchards, and the extensive two hour time period away from campus causes excitement levels to reach an all time high.
Considering every member of the student body has left campus for this whole week while you are held here captive against your will, this gives you and your teammates time to bond, and discover new things about each other.
Additionally, you will find yourself passing time that does not consist of eating or sleeping in any way you can think of. Nothing says team bonding quite like playing pranks on each other.
As the week carries on, all sense of reality has ultimately been lost. In our defense, we are spending a week straight on campus, with the same people, same practice schedule, ALL. WEEK. LONG. Table manners are out the window, and the distinction between what activities are acceptable to do in public and what are not becomes a blurred line.
By the time a day of practice has ended and nighttime rolls around, minimal activity happens, but of course food is still involved at all hours of the day.
Once this wearing week comes to an end, you realize why you love your team so much, and why this week is the most exhausting but rewarding weeks of the year. This is the time where your teams really reunite, your strange quirks that nobody understands brings everyone together, and you realize how special your teammates are. These are the few people you are willing to spend every waking hour with, as teammates quickly become your family
And of course, the sentimental moment is ruined as soon as students arrive back on campus, refreshed, relaxed, and rested. You can't bring yourself to take them seriously as they complain about already being back on campus after this long break. Oh please, cry me a river.
