Spring Break is an extremely important time for students to relax and get away from the hard work they have put forth during the semester. For many students, spring break is a time to decompress and recharge before the end of the semester. 

However, that ability to recharge or decompress may not be as beneficial if Spring Break is not planned at the appropriate time. 

I believe the appropriate time for Spring Break should be anywhere from the middle of March to the end of March. This is the perfect time for Spring Break because it perfectly separates the beginning of the spring semester from finals week.

Finals are known to take up the last two weeks of April and if Spring Break is scheduled the first week of April, then it puts students in this awkward time frame of getting a break but also having to prepare for finals right after Spring Break. I also have seen friends and students “burnout” during the month of March.

Sophomore Cece Light said, “it would have been nice to have a break in March. Mardi Gras break was fun at the end of February but I didn’t really feel like I needed a break at that point. It was two weeks later where I started to realize I was burning out.” 

This year’s Spring Break is scheduled to be the week leading up to Easter. Since SHC is a  Jesuit college, many students favored this. Light said, “I’m excited that this year I can have a break and Easter in the same week. I’m able to catch a break and celebrate the holiday accordingly.” 

However, this year Easter does not fall until April 9. This means when students return to school after Spring Break, they are faced with preparation for finals. This can be very stressful for students, especially after getting out of the groove of things due to spring break. 

Junior Isabella Lorr said, “I like the idea of having spring break during Easter but it is almost harder to come back and be thrown into the thought of finals.”

Last year’s Spring Break looked a lot different. SHC Spring Break was merged with Mardi Gras break which was February 28 to March 4. Easter was on April 17 and students were given Good Friday and Easter Monday off. 

Sophomore Maggie Helton said, “last year’s Spring Break was way too early. I think we were one of the first schools to go on spring break as well. If we could have had a week off for spring break a week or two later and a couple days off for Easter, that would have been perfect.” 

Students don’t want to be overwhelmed by the thought of finals or school. I believe that by finding the perfect week for Spring Break, we can eliminate stress in our students.