Today begins what most college students would argue is the most anticipated week of the school year-Spring Break. Everything’s been packed-bikini, sunscreen, flip-flops and, for some, numerous spirits to either enliven the experience or drown one’s vacation. Anthems have been chosen for the Spring Break ’05 Mix CD. The top is down and everyone’s ready to go.
Am I the only one who thinks something is a bit off? Doesn’t it feel strange to pack up a bikini when you still have to wear a heavy coat outside?
Even though the official seasonal shifts don’t mean much in the South, the fact remains that it’s winter. Despite the few random days of the past month that have been almost, dare I say, pleasant, the general forecast has been cold, gray and windy.
Spring officially begins March 20, and even then we’ll probably still experience days of seeing our breath alternating with T-shirt days. We can’t expect a dependable spring until mid to late April, which will seep into a hot, humid summer so quickly we won’t even have time to appreciate it.
So why is Spring Break plunked in the cold grayness of winter? I realize the almighty scheduling powers don’t care to take into account our comfort level when we’re shivering on the beach clad in as little as possible so as to get the requisite Spring Break tan, but why early March?
The weather forecast for the week is all over the place, with lows in the high 30s to highs in the mid-70s and both sun and thunderstorms, which means I’ll be packing sweaters, tank tops, galoshes and everything in between. I know all Southern weather is as unpredictable as a June thunderstorm immediately followed by sunshine, but it would be nice to have Spring Break at a time when it could at least be guaranteed to be warm.
It seems that Spring Break recedes slightly closer to January every year. In high school, our vacations were always the last week in March. This seems to be following a trend, since school starts earlier every year. After Labor Day used to be the universal time to start school, but the powers that be have dwindled our summer down to school starting in mid-August.
I suppose it could be worse. Since Vanderbilt’s Spring Break was this past week. But still, other Southern schools seem to have a better grasp of things-Alabama, LSU and Auburn’s breaks are in the upcoming weeks, toward the end of March and into April. Is this zigzagged scheduling to ensure that Gulf Shores’ hotels aren’t swarmed on the same week? Is it to keep the colleges’ students from interacting, or perhaps some angry Rick’s Rowdies from starting a brawl with the Alabama basketball fans? Surely it’s not coincidence that our Spring Breaks all fall on different weeks.
Regardless of how crowded the hot vacation spots would become if every Southern university placed their Spring Break on the same week, it would be nice to have a universal Spring Break so we could vacation with friends from other colleges, but perhaps that’s just too much to ask.
True, everyone is welcoming this break with open arms. It will be nice to have a week to rest and relax having just finished midterms. Also, with only six weeks of school left, a week-long break any later in the semester seems pretty ridiculous. But still, Spring Break isn’t Spring Break without the Spring.
Wait… I just mentioned a week to rest and relax. I don’t know about you, but the week after Spring Break I have three papers and one project due and two novels to read. So will my break be spent with nothing on my mind, basking in comfortable laziness? Hardly. I’ll have work to do and guilt looming over my head if I procrastinate. Spring Break isn’t Spring Break without the Break.
Without the Spring and the Break, what are we left with? A cold week of school work, but no classes. It may seem cynical, and honestly I’m as excited about the break as anyone, but I can’t help but feel that it could be improved.
So, if you’re off to the beach for the week, bring a jacket. If you’re headed home, relax and don’t worry about obligations. If you’re staying in Starkville, I’m sorry. And to everyone, of course, be safe.
Erin Clyburn is a sophomore English major. She can be reached at [email protected].