[ONLINE EXCLUSIVE]
What is that? Springtime is in the air? Well, at least March is in the air, which means spring break is nearing for the students at Puget Sound. This also means professors are strategically planning their lesson plans to have a paper due when students return, and said students will likely not have it done until the Sunday before class starts again.
However, before the work is to be done there are adventures to be had. Some are venturing home, and some around the world.
“I’m going to Belize and cruising around Central America for Mom’s 50th birthday. I’m happy, but I haven’t been home in forever and I want to see my friends,” sophomore Casey Oakes said.
Belize is a tropical place to visit, but the bittersweet part about traveling is not getting to see friends back home. Luckily for some, the friends are traveling with them.
“I am going to Maui with my boyfriend and Mom, she leaves in Kibei, and my friend Kate is going to visit me there,” Madison Genovese said.
Genovese seems to be getting the best of all worlds, a vacation, family and friends. However, it can be nice to make spring break all about the family.
“I am going back home to LA. My parents will pick me up from the airport and my mother will invariably hug me, tell how much she missed me, generally inflate my ego and then begin to harass me about the length of my hair,” freshman Mason Kale said.
Kale says he may or may not be getting a haircut over the course of the break, but at least he will get to spend some quality time with his mom and hopefully some friends from home too.
Many are making their breaks all about the friends.
“I’m headed off to New Orleans. One of my good friends lives there and a group of about six of us girls are headed down there for the week,” Kelsey Johnson said.
Some are sticking around the Northwest and making the most of the opportunities that lay right in the back yard of Puget Sound. Junior Joey Lange is heading out to the Pacific coast for the break to camp.
“Me, my friend, and the great outdoors. Of course, I’m going to come back to campus to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the proper manner as well,” Lange said.
Usually, spring break means adventures and times with great friends; however, for some past spring breaks are far too scarring to venture out again.
“Last spring break, I took a driver’s test and I almost ran over a troop of ducklings. Ever since then I’ve suffered from post-traumatic stress and freeze up whenever I see a duck. Not just because I almost ran over ducklings, but because the mother goose attacked the car and was trying to hack through the windshield. I failed the test,” Joseph Workman said.
He explained that the majority of his break might be spent inside in order to avoid another one of these tragic escapades.
When asked what most students were looking forward to over the break, the most common answer was food.
“I’m going home to San Diego, and I can’t wait to feast on some real Mexican food, no offense to the sub,” sophomore Kayla Frost said.
Senior Jesse Baldridge, however, is excited for a break full of probably just as much eating, but also some serious relaxation time.
“I will be playing Pokémon. All day, every day. The fifth generation of games come out on my birthday,” Baldridge said.
No matter what the break has in store, it is time for a little relaxation, adventure and some seriously good food.