Cristian Valentin
Equinox Staff
Visiting family, having impromptu day trips, getting to take that mini vacation with your friends to an extravagant location; these are all things that would have been happening this past week, but with COVID, those spring break festivities will have to be a thing of the past for the time being.
This is due to the fact that Keene State, along with many other schools, have cancelled spring break this year. The an nouncement came back in October from President Melinda Treadwell as a COVID-19 precautionary measure.
As a student, this is certainly a shame but also something that I had expected prior to the announcement. I do think it’s justified though due to the various activities I already listed above.
First, you have students that travel to other parts of the country to worry about, which is simply too big of a risk with flights, being in potentially crowded locations and overall, just not knowing who they may come in contact with. You also have students that may have just gone home to see their family and friends but, despite this being more lowkey, it is still an incredible risk.
Some may suggest the school does something similar to what they do between semesters and have people get tested to come back. To that, I would respond saying it is a logistical nightmare, especially considering the fact that the return both back in the fall as well as last month was anything but smooth with the school having to push back move-in days both semesters.
It would also be nearly impossible in a week with the testing having to occur practically immediately and would result in the break most likely being extended which would also completely derail the semester. To conclude on this, it simply couldn’t happen and I understand that students are upset but what else do people expect the school to do?
An alternative that the college is doing is a new addition called “Owl Days.” These are somewhat similar to the traditional mental health day but with a caveat; the school is not telling anybody when these are and making them completely sporadic. I am glad these will be a thing because a semester straight of school is simply overwhelming but I think they could tweak the idea a bit.
First, as far as I know, professors are not being told about the date of these and I think that’s a little much because they need to be able to prepare their curriculum and, as a professor of mine said, it’s completely disruptive.
On the other hand, I understand not telling students because students would absolutely use these days to go home or do other things that would add risk. In addition, I honestly kinda dig the idea of random surprise days off and I hope the first one can come at a good time.
I also hope that there are at least three or four of these because spring break is traditionally a week and a half. One or two days simply couldn’t make up for this and I also hope it wouldn’t be on a Friday because that wouldn’t do anything for about three-quarters of the student body.
At the end of the day, the school made the responsible choice not having spring break. It’s definitely disappointing for myself and many but it’s understandable and I think with the addition of these “Owl Days,” they are trying to make it up to us.
Cristian Valentin can be contacted at:
cvalentin@kscequinox.com
