Cabin fever, winter blues, and temporary insanity are a few of the multiple symptoms that come with good ol' spring semester. Even if you reside somewhere warm, there is something that awakens deep inside us about halfway through the winter season. Some of us call it love (love for winter, ew) and others of us call it torture.
Lucky for us, our misfortune in the winter months changes for the better when we are granted a week long break from our current reality. Whether our current reality is pleasant or dreadful (mine is the latter), spring break gives us some us time for ourselves (hopefully), which is more than appreciated after the weeks of midterms and semester projects that were dished out the weeks before.
A lot of times, people think the only noun that constitutes a break is one that resides in a different and usually warmer place that we currently don’t inhabit. While it would be a dream come true for every restless soul to escape their current state (literally) to go somewhere better and more exciting to relax (or drink copious amounts), that’s not always realistic or the case for some.
From Florida to South Padre, from Rome to your good ol' home town, there are some things all of us will have in common this spring break.
1. Sleep
Sleep, sleep, and then some more sleep. Regardless of whether you’re spending your days soaked in the sun with a Corona Light or passing by time talking to your cat and eating popcorn, most of us are going to catch up on some much needed sleep this spring break.
2. Relaxation
Ah yes, that foreign words that the majority of college kids forget about. This kind of connects to sleep because most people are relaxed when they’re sleeping. Do not be fooled though, my friends. Relaxation is not sleeping. Relaxation, by definition from dictionary.com is an activity or recreation that provides such relief; diversion; entertainment. Put in normal speaking words, relaxation is doing something that requires minimal effort and maximum enjoyment, a.k.a the art of doing nothing. While relaxation to some may be going for a run, others may relax on the beach with a mimosa (cliché, but I had to). Whatever it may be, most of us will be doing some sort of relaxing this spring break (hopefully).
3. Avoidance of obligations/Time to get some serious sh*t done
This is one item because the teeter totter only goes one way or the other. As much as it sickens me, there are those people who use breaks to do the exact opposite of take a break. How they do it, I have no idea but I admire them. Then there are those (like myself) who have mastered the above two points so avoidance of all obligations is actually a point on their mental to do list. While it is nice to do some reading for fun or tie up some loose ends, spring break is a break, which comes with many definitions and necessities for each person.
4. Avoid all people/spend time with people
Again, this item most likely goes one way or the other. While there are people who will see some people and then there are people who will spend some time alone, most spring breakers have an idea of who they want to spend their time with and how they want to spend it. This item is contingent upon the previous ones because they’re all connected. If your idea of relaxation is spending the night at the bar, then you’re most likely going to be spending time with a lot of people. If you’d rather spend your days interacting with nothing more than your bed, then chances are your to do list (or lack of) does not include other people. Not that you hate people, you just spend so much time around people at school that it’s nice to have me time while on break. Alternatively, you could have an entire list of people to catch up with from your parents to your brother’s girlfriend’s cousin and your long time high school friends. Either way, it’s your break, so you’ll see who you want with it.
5. Dreading going back to school
First off, I recognize that this may not be true for everyone. Also, when I say school, I mean classes. Again, this may not be true for everyone. However, with a change in seasons approaching, a new graduating senior class, and the anticipation for a three-month long academic break (in most cases), we are not looking forward to going back to our weekly routine of class, lack of sleep, hangovers, and repeat. While those make up the famous college experience, you aren’t necessarily itching to go back to lecture halls and communal bathrooms. There’s something so freeing about not having to go to class or participating in in-class discussions. For seniors, this spring break is especially bittersweet considering there’s only a few short months until they will no longer be worrying about classes and uber fairs, but missing tailgates and late-night cram sessions.
Wherever you may be this spring break, remember you are not alone in what you are going through. At any given moment, there are countless numbers of us who are experiencing exactly what you are experiencing and we’re there for you.
Most of all, remember to sleep, remember to relax, and remember to spend your spring break doing what you want to do.
