Sarah Pacht
Connector Staff

The term “spring break” evokes images of tropical locales, bikinis, drinking and partying on the beach. But it can be so many other things.

Spring break is meant to be, as the title implies, a break from classes in the spring. Time to put the books aside, de-stress and recharge your brain. Everyone will spend their break differently, but in most cases that break does not end up being much of a break at all. Let us explore three different options: a week in the tropics, a week working and a week of laziness.

So you managed to save enough money to go somewhere for spring break, whether it be Cancun, Miami or some other beach retreat.

You have to pack, go through airport security, check in to the hotel and possibly rent a car, among many other things, then do that process in reverse when you return home. Not to mention that you have to get a passport and go through customs if you are traveling out of the country.

Being able to return to class the following week with a jumpstart on a tan (and hopefully not a burn), your social media accounts full of pictures, and your brain full of tons of memories makes all that trouble worth it. You are rewarding yourself for all the hard work you did in the first half of the semester. But now you cannot afford the Ramen that you could barely afford before.

Wanting to be able to afford that Ramen and still have some beer money, you decide to work during the break. As a full-time student it is hard to work enough hours to get the money you need while still having time to dedicate to studying and other homework. So break is the perfect time to pick up some extra hours to earn a little more cash.

But all those plans you made to meet up with friends at other schools faded to black once you realized that you had worked your whole break away. When you get your next paycheck though, you soon forget about those canceled plans. You might even be able to get a craft beer now instead of good ole PBR.

Maybe you did not have any plans for break. No trips, no extra hours at work, just a week full of nothing to do. “I’ll catch up on that show on Netflix that everyone’s been talking about,” you think. You do not set any alarms because it is break, you do not have to go to class.

But when you wake up at 1 p.m., you only have an hour to eat something before “The Doctors” is on, then a few episodes of “Friends,” then two episodes of “King of Queens,” then it is time for “Wheel of Fortune” and “Jeopardy” (or a sports game). Then all of a sudden you are watching “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” when you realize that you haven’t gone to the bathroom all day, and you should probably make yourself some Easy Mac.

We all experience college a little differently, so of course we are all going to experience our breaks differently as well. I would have enjoyed staying in bed watching TV all day or cleaning my room, but I certainly didn’t mind adding some cushion to my bank account. And as much as I would have loved to have spent break tanning in a bikini, at least I did not have to shave my legs.