By the end of first semester, each student is busy wrapping up their classes, cramming in final projects and fueling themselves with ungodly amounts of caffeine to pull all-nighters studying, nearly exhausting themselves to capacity. It is no surprise that winter break is eagerly anticipated by students all over. The stress of classes, working and sports, among other things, can be a challenging balancing act and a break is just what many of us can’t wait to have. But what happens when this break lasts over a month? Does this lengthy of a break hinder a student’s focus and work ethic or does it help reset it for when second semester rolls around?
I would argue it is not very advantageous to have such a long winter break. To put things in perspective, working adults do not get a break of this length during the holiday season. A break from Christmas to New Year’s Day is a reasonable amount of time. Having a few days off before Christmas Day allows people to spend time with their families and spend time traveling, wrapping up gifts, etc. But is it really necessary to have weeks before Christmas off as well? Personally, I was finished with the semester by the first week of December. Don’t get too confused, I was very much excited for my well-deserved break from school work and the busy college schedule. However, just a few weeks into my break I found myself wondering what to do with myself. I understand many students take this time to work but all that time away from school work may make the transition back for second semester a bit difficult. Is it possible that there may be some underlying reason that university systems decide to close down for as long as they do? An article on The Explainer titled “Gimme a Break” touched upon some possible reasons that college students experience such a long winter break.
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It wrote, “Administrators realized that if they altered the calendar, they could reduce spending. By starting the term during late summer and by shutting their doors for a month or more over the winter holidays, they saved significantly on heating costs at a time when oil prices are cripplingly high.” While I cannot necessarily prove this to be the truth here at KSC, I do think there is a possibility that this is part of the reason. It is without arguement that some students use their time away from school more wisely than others, but as someone who enjoys the academic experience, I missed the structure of being in class. Of course winter break is optimal for rekindling old friendships with former high school classmates and spending some time with your family, but doing so for over a month may be a bit excessive. I can confidently speak for myself and others when I say that being in school holds you to a specific standard. Many find more structure in their lives and they find that the busier they are, the better time management skills they have. This is why being away from school for a month can allow students to fall out of routine. It is absolutely possible that people spend their time on break wisely. Maybe they travel, maybe they visit with old friends, maybe they take up a new hobby. However, I believe a break of this length makes it difficult to get back into school mode prepared and ready. The same idea holds true for summer vacation, so why have two breaks that just hinder a student’s ability to get back in the academic groove of things? Students pay thousands of dollars for their college experience. Students chose to go to college for a reason. Whether it be to break out of their shell and meet new people, to get away from home or to become an up-and-coming expert in their field of choice, they made a commitment to their education and should want to be on campus maximizing the most of their resources. It is important for students to really discover themselves and spend their short time in school as wisely as possible.
Sabrina Lapointe can be contacted at slapointe@keene-equinox.com
