I know, before I get bombarded with angry students, let me make one point — I don't hate relaxation time. In fact, I crave it, maybe a bit too much at times, and that's why I wanted to make the point that long vacations are the worst sometimes — no, all the time — for me. Allow me to explain my point.

I think if I had to choose between short breaks and long breaks, I would probably choose many intervals of short breaks. They just help me adjust a lot more. With long breaks, it kind of feels like I'm taking a long hiatus from everything (well, it is a long hiatus) and when I come back, everything just feels new, wonky, and fast-paced. Everything was fast-paced, to begin with, but the breaks just make it harder to adjust to and the longer it is, the harder it feels to adjust to it.

If I could pick my breaks, I would sprinkle short mini vacations here and there just so I can maintain a sense of balance. Too much fun obstructs how I work and too much work is just gosh darn stressful. I can't imagine powering through half the year of just school and tests and then just going through intense ennui over vacation for the other half. It feels too unnatural and stressful.

If anything, I'd rather have periods of stress alleviated with periods of relaxation. That way, I can feel physically and mentally strong through the whole thing. But I also think that the way our school schedules are organized force us to sneak our own relaxation time into the school semester and even study time into the vacation periods. I think it helps us manage our time as well as organize our schedules, too.

So…in that sense, I guess it's not half bad.