I was lucky enough to be going to one of the few schools that actually had a spring break this semester. Because of the pandemic and some schools having a late start to the semester, a lot of my friends from different colleges did not even have a spring break and were surprised to hear that I was able to have this much needed break. This semester has been my hardest semester yet and having only two weeks in between the fall and spring semesters, the week off from school was extremely necessary.
By the time spring break became a part of our near futures, everyone I had known was just trying to get by until we were on spring break. With the frenzy of homework assignments and midterm projects and exams, a lot of students, myself included felt extremely overwhelmed and overworked and spring break, while it was a short break was one that allowed a lot of us to return revived and refreshed long enough to finish the semester and the academic year off strong.
Normally, I would spend my breaks with old friends who were also returning home for break; however, because I was pretty much the only one who actually had a break, I decided to take it easy and really just relax. I think this is something that is really overlooked especially now given that a lot of us are already spending a lot of time inside. But, one thing I’ve noticed about myself since we went into lockdown is that now when I do hang out with my loved ones, it is often something that really drains me by the end of the day because I am not used to it. I really chose this time to allow myself to breathe because I would be given a lot of opportunities after the semester ends in a few more weeks to see the same people in an even more relaxed environment.
Another thing I chose to do was to actually do some school work. I know a lot of you who might be reading might roll your eyes at the fact that I was just complaining about being overworked and now when I get a break, I’m still doing work. And while I do your point, I would like to defend myself in that just because I am on spring break does not mean I was getting any less school work. My decision to at least get some work done was one that I made after looking at my syllabus and recognizing that as soon as I returned to class, everything would be full swing ahead and I would go right back to be overwhelmed and overworked. By the time classes started back up again, I thanked my past self for getting a lot of my work done ahead of time because it allowed me to ease back into the semester.
I encouraged you all to enjoy the breaks that are given to you any way that you please while also trying to be mindful of future tasks. I wish you all the best. Stay safe and good luck!