(Photo courtesy UMass Lowell) Spring break for UMass Lowell students was in March.
Lillie Zate
Connector Staff
Monday, March 14, UMass Lowell students had their first day of class after being away for a week for a well-deserved Spring Break. Some may say that they were refreshed, and 9 days away was the perfect amount of time, while others may have just been the same amount of exhausted that they were before they left and may say that spring break was too short.
Spring semester in any year of college is always incredibly stressful for everyone, and spring break is exactly that, a break. But it still felt like it was too short, and only as if it was a few measly days off. Why is that? I think that spring break, even by a couple of more days, would have been more beneficial if it was longer.
Spring break is right smack in the middle of the semester, usually right before or right after midterms. Some college students spend spring break decompressing, catching up on their hobbies, and recharging to tackle the rest of the semester. Other students use it as a time to fly away to somewhere much warmer and escape the depressing winter that is in Lowell. However they use their free time, I think most can agree that it was way too short.
Personally, by the time I got used to being at home and not having to wake up every day for class and spend every night working on homework, I have to start thinking about going back to school and facing tests and lectures again. Many professors assigned me readings and homework over break, and I also had several exams scheduled right when I came back that I had to spend most of my spring break studying for. Instead of using my break to rest and recharge, I spent my break worrying about how much time I had left, because it was only a week.
For many, a week is barely enough time to get into a different routine. For me, as well as many college students, I thrive on routine. I thrive when I have a set schedule and times that I need to do things. That doesn’t mean I don’t like relaxing, but I like to have a few days to calm down before I can actually spend my breaks doing things I can’t normally do during the school year, such as take vacations or pick up new hobbies. Basically, I believe that students would benefit from a longer spring break because this gives them a day or two at the beginning to set into a new routine for their time off, then a few days at the end to stress about going back to school catching up on homework and getting back into the school mindset.
As spring break is usually a time many college students go on vacations, a week is barely enough time to plan a worthwhile trip. Because break is only 9 days, students usually have to split their time between vacationing, visiting family, and worrying about the semester resuming when they come back onto campus. If spring break was slightly longer, this could alleviate the stress put onto vacation planning and spending time visiting loved ones.
