Shawn RiceThirty-one degrees, blustery winds, three inches of snow and icy roads greeted Cabrini students a few weeks ago when they packed their bags and headed home for spring break. As I skidded on ice, I wondered, “Where did the ‘spring’ go in my spring break?”
Most colleges let students run wild on spring break during the week of March 6 or March 13. In fact 87 percent of college students across the nation are off from their demanding classes to celebrate their week of freedom with outrageous and wild vacations in tropical destinations. Cancun, Jamaica, Acapulco, South Beach, and Punta Cana are jam packed with hundreds of thousands of nearly-naked co-eds armed with frozen daiquiris and pina coladas.
Cheap package deals targeted to palm-tree-crazed college students entice co-eds all year long. The alluring brochures of beautiful white-sand beaches, blue skies and fully-stocked bars make students drool with anticipation throughout the blustery winter months as they count down the days till spring break.
There is one factor missing from this fantasy vacation; Cabrini students are missing and they’re no where to be found on the beaches or the bars. This year as well as last year, Cabrini scheduled the spring break beginning in February. It was snowing the day we drove off campus and all of our friends in nearby colleges and universities were still waist deep in text books as they crammed for midterms.
I understand I am lucky to even have a week off in the middle of the semester but I cannot help but wish it had been a couple weeks later. So many of my friends, 15 in fact, from La Salle University and West Chester University vacationed and partied for eight days in the heart of spring-break-fantasy land, Cancun, Mexico. I was invited to come with them and nearly did until I checked the school calendar and realized our spring break begins in February. There was nothing I could do but help them pack their bags and listen to endless X-rated stories when they returned.
I just don’t get it, our winter break, Easter break, and summer vacation coincide with every other college across the nation, so what happened to spring break? Cabrini students deserve their week of tropical paradise and extreme partying, so I believe students need to demand that Cabrini put the “spring” back into our spring break next year!
Posted to the web by Ryan Norris
