When you first saw the academic calendar for UR, what is the first thing you looked up? Course registration? Undergraduate program advising? Reading period?
None of the above, I imagine. When I first saw the calendar, I was searching for breaks. I almost forgot why I am in a university, fantasizing about the beauty of days without classes.
And now, it’s time for us to embrace our fantastic and imminent fall break.
What can we do during fall break? Sleeping in is definitely the most common answer I’ve received. Under enormous pressure from classes and midterms (not to mention Netflix), we usually have no alternative but to sacrifice sleep. Sleeping until 2 p.m. is no overstatement, and watching Netflix until 2 a.m. might be an understatement.
If asked to pick between watching a TV show and finalizing a paper due tonight, I may stress the importance of watching the premiere of Blindspot ten times, but still go to the library to do the paper. TV shows can be put off, but deadlines hardly can, so fall break is the best time to catch up on all the episodes we missed (and spoil them for those who haven’t watched).
Sleeping in and watching Netflix—what a nice day! But shouldn’t we do something else—something less mundane—to celebrate the rare four-day holiday?
How about a trip?
Lots of people around have already planned a short trip to somewhere else with someone. The “somewhere” shouldn’t be a problem, but who is that “someone?” Family? Seems like a good choice, but your parents would never let you do something that adventurous. Friends from college? Ew… We’ve only been together for a month. We are not that close yet.
Friends from your hometown? Good idea! But when I started asking mine about their fall break plans, I found that most of them do not have the same fall break schedule. Most of them have fall break the week before, during UR’s Meliora Weekend. And a few of them have fall week the week after. There goes the plan.
But honestly, I think the time off for fall break is the best of all University breaks. Fall break, for me, is a time to get ready for the upcoming academic pressure. Even though I may not be able to travel with friends, I still have four days to refresh. And for a college student, nothing is more important than free time.
