Come the end of this week, KSC students will be starting off their spring break vacations. Whether traveling toward sunshine and sand, sticking around town or heading home for the week, safety should be a priority for all over break.
It’s easy to brush aside the factor of safety in situations, especially one’s own personal safety. After all, the most thrilling stories contain a risk that was taken or some sort of element of danger that’s been overcome. We all can envision some sort of crazy spring break scenario with solo cups spilling beneath the palm trees and the type of scene where young adults dispose of their disappointed parents’ paychecks with each test tube shot thrown back. Although this sort of situation may not be everyone’s idea of a spring break well spent, some will find themselves consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.
Sam Moore / Art Director
For The Equinox, we see this as an opportunity to not just mention the cliché “know your limits,” but also to know your surroundings and be conscious of those around you and where you are, especially in the case of traveling. Honestly, we’d recommend drinking water and staying hydrated, regardless of if you’re idling intoxicated on the side of some resort’s pool or soberly watching Scrubs at home. It’s not worth spending your mornings on vacation dry heaving as your kidneys reject your very existence.
Also, if you find yourself hanging out at home, don’t feel like you have to compete with the exaggerated Snapchat stories that took five tries to get right in the corner of a club in Cancun. It’s important not to compare your spring break to others, when you can make the best of your own. You don’t need to drink just as heavily as those selectively framed Snapchats make it seem. Have your own fun, and maybe even work ahead on school work. As lame as that idea sounds for spring break, your future self will greatly appreciate it, and those still recovering who return to campus, behind on work, will envy your scholarly initiatives.
We at The Equinox take into account that whether of legal age or not, at home or at a resort, people are going to get drunk at the very least this vacation. We just feel it’s important to realize that after a matter of days, we’ll all find our way back to campus and the semester will continue forward. We’d hate to see something that occurred over break hold a student back from moving forward with their spring semester.
Spring break is a time to have a blast, so do so appropriately and don’t let your fun cast a bad light upon you. When the Sunday night before classes rolls around, you don’t want to be stressing over what occurred the week before.
It’s quite easy to get caught up in the moment, but just bear in mind, it only takes a moment for a grand time to take a turn for the worse. It’s important to avoid putting yourself in situations that pose a greater risk than the joy that’ll come from engaging in it. Also, going off of the idea of not putting yourself in troubling situations, it’s important to stay aware of those around you because awful things can occur in the nicest of places.
As you should already know by now, different countries have different rules, and the same goes when traveling among the states as well. What you may not know is each state and each country’s own set of laws. So, it may be a good idea to do a bit of research if you are traveling for this vacation just so you know what you can and can’t get away with. Also, you should research crime rates and what areas to avoid if traveling somewhere new. You don’t want to be that tourist that stumbles down the wrong street. Respect yourselves and respect those around you, wherever you find yourself this vacation.
Whether you’re lying on the couch, working extra hours or partying on the beach, make sure your spring break is a safe one nonetheless.
