I hear the Georgia Tech Whistle blow, signaling the end of my last class and also what I have been looking forward to for a while now. After having gone through weeks and weeks of exams and assignments, I could feel that the stress was getting to the best of me and what I really needed was this spring break, a time to step back, relax, and just mentally prepare myself so that I could feel refreshed and reinvigorated to finish the semester strong once I returned back to school. As I was leaving my lecture hall, I overheard one student talking to another, “I can’t believe I have two tests when I come back from spring break, and on top of that lab reports and assignments due that week.” And honestly, I couldn’t help but feel a little irritated that a professor would even think about doing that to his or her students.

Because I acknowledge the importance of breaks. I understand because last semester, I took a break from school when I felt, as Mark Twain had once put it, “that school was getting in the way of my education.” During this break, I traveled- I went to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyons, all the way down to Miami. I went deep sea fishing, sat on beaches and watched sun sets, hiked the canyons, tried new foods, went to musicals and shows. I didn’t have to worry and stress about doing homework or studying for tests; I was able to focus on just one important thing, and that was me. And from this break, I learned to appreciate the beauty of life more, to realize that there is so much more to life outside of school, exams, and grades. Mostly, I came back this semester feeling mentally stronger and more confident to take on the challenges that I would face.

So yes, breaks are important. A break is a time to refuel ourselves if we have burned out. A time to find our broken pieces and re-glue them together. To prepare and embrace ourselves to finish the rest of the semester. And yes, we all understand that as a student at Tech, there really isn’t a time to slow down because we are constantly pushed to move forward and to make ourselves better candidates for the real world. But in the end, not having a break when we need one can do more harm than good.