After an intense week that included the first Papal resignation in 600 years, a Gavin DeGraw concert and a visit to the College of William and Mary by former director of the CIA Robert M. Gates, it’s hard to believe that half of February is already behind us. It’s also hard to believe that our campus bubble was open enough to inform us of so many outside events, especially since my only knowledge of the real world comes from a CNN special I’m forced to watch on a treadmill with no visible remote.
The College’s birthday is a notable event, but after 300 years, every birthday will sound impressive. 320? What about 321— or 330? I’ll be lucky if I live to a quarter of that age. So for me, the best part of this particular Friday is that two exact weeks from now, we will be departing for an absolutely glorious holiday.
Unlike the tropical celebration infamously associated with them, the first 250 years of spring breaks at the College were not as uplifting. Originally created so that students could travel home and spend a week doing intensive manual labor so that families had food on the table come harvest time, breaks from school were more of a necessity for survival. Or maybe our ancestors just didn’t believe in holidays as much as our generation does. I’m not one to make assumptions.
On a brighter 21st century note, for those of you partaking in any sort of tropical flights, road trips, skiing getaways, spring break alternative trips or international adventures, we are already jealous of the tan lines you will be bringing back. However, the true beauty of spring break is that it is a week unattached to any traditions, religions or forced family reunions. In fact, it is the most selfish of all holidays, precisely because it is supposed to be spent exactly how you desire.
For some, that may mean driving down to Miami with the rest of collegiate America and enjoying all that beaches and sketchy downtown bars have to offer. For others, it may mean camping out on your couch with summer novels, trashy magazines and the puppies or kittens you have been missing since winter break. For the typical College overachiever, it may include teaching in Haiti, building houses in Louisiana, planning water irrigation in Guatemala, and saving the world one day at a time. We’re a diverse bunch of students here.
For freshmen at the College, spring break was a very different story only a short year ago. For the guys, it was more of a 10-day streak of video games and late-night pizza rolls and Hot Pockets. For girls, it included local shopping malls, horrendous make-up experiments and a lot of “should I wait for him to text me?” dilemmas. But now that you are in college, spring break is your time to shine. The world is your oyster, and seafood lover or not, there is a world full of possibilities for you to see and experience. Sophomores and juniors, I expect nothing but incredible Facebook pictures from worldwide destinations. But my best advice goes out to seniors, who I know have been motivationally deprived since Thanksgiving — just try to come back alive.
Dasha Godunova is a Confusion Corner Columnist, a senior at the College and hopes to find some motivation to at least return to the United States once she touches down in Europe two weeks from now.