Spring Break for Orange County was last week and I was considerably nice with homework and decided not to assign any to my students. Contrary to popular belief I can be a nice person especially when the terms "Spring Break" comes into play. I remember what it was like when I was a teenager and young adult in college, awaiting that time on or around Easter where you could breathe a little from the stresses of school. I try to respect my students as I wanted when I was younger and cut them a break or two when vacations are involved. The only thing I do differently is I ask them to discuss their week off with their classmates and to structure themselves in a literary fashion. In other words; have fun but be prepared to participate in class discussion and write an essay based on that discussion. It's funny what you hear coming out of college students' mouths after such a break and even more entertaining to find yourself agreeing with them.
One student started the discussion off with "I went to the beach over Spring Break, rode some waves, got buried in sand and spent some quality time with my family." Another student shared, "I flew back home to visit my parents and celebrate an early Easter since I will have school and work when the actual holiday comes around." The third student discussed his laziness and legitimate vacation where he watched television, played video games, and goofed off online all while keeping up with his beauty rest. My fourth student had an unpleasant tone but shared how she had to work through her entire Spring Break, just as she had to do it for every other school break she was given. She sat there and whined for a good ten minutes about how upsetting it is to finally be able to step away from life's headaches only to realize you really can't. I asked her why that was, to which she replied, "I need the money. I'm broke and I need to live." Did I mention this girl never shows up to my classes and is now in jeopardy of failing? How can you be broke if you work so much that you are missing valuable lessons but still be working too little to not be able to live? I understand our economy sucks and it's harder than ever now to get by but you need to consider some very important factors when you're an adult.
To compare these stories to one another is simple. Very different personalities, mixed with very different social lifes and beliefs. I am never one to judge but quite honestly, I can say that every story told was one I had told in my past before. Yes, I took over the beaches with my family, swam as far as I could go, messed around on a boogey board, built sand castles and enjoyed somegod old fashioned bonding. No, I haven't had to fly back to my hometown since my home and college were all in FL, but I did end up flying to Puerto Rico once to stay with my grandmother one year during Spring Break. There's nothing like time spent with you family, if I may add. The laziness thing, I've wanted to experience but never actually have. It must be nice to get up in the morning and realize you don't actually have to be up, silence your alarm and go back to bed. To be able to sleep in late because you have nowhere to be must be an incredibly happy feeling. I won't lie, I love sleep and if I could get more of it, I would! Now the work thing, I can completely understand because since I was in high school I have been working, one to five jobs at a time. Am I sharing that information to say I'm better than anyone? Absolutely not. I am merely stating that fact to sympathize with the headaches and stress that come along with working 24/7. Yes, it pays the bills but sometimes you need to stop and just relax. Younger people in general tend to overwork themselves to a point of exhaustion just for extra money or just enough money to do that living thing. Perhaps it's not the living thing that constains us, maybe it's just the desire to live comfortably. Nobody wants to have discounted items at home or thrift store merchandise in their wardrobe. We all seek to fulfull our material desires the best way we know how...with money. Even something as simple as dinner can turn a simple pasta dish at home into an adventure to Red Lobster where instead of saving money we are reversing the idea completely and spending $50 or more on a plate of food you could have easily gotten your next pay period when money wasn't so tight, for the fraction of the cost. We work to spoil ourselves and we take vacations because we are tired of spoiling ourselves. Isn't life ironic in that sense?
I enjoyed the shared happening of my students but I could have done with less pessimism and more optimistic approaches to days off. I know when you are on campus, you are far from home and you struggle with a part time job and homework, trying to please your parents and do your best. All in all maintaining stable relationships, a social life and network of friends. With the extension of facebook and of course twitter, we push ourselves to the limit, sometimes staying up until the late hours of the night just to get something done. I guess I should go back to grading papers now. Take some time out of work to relax some and don't listen to me, I'm a bad example.
