Taking a break

I try to read The Traveler as often as I can when I'm on campus. I do this for two main reasons. One: keeping up with events and news on campus is important. I like to know a little bit of what has been going on with students I can relate to. Two: I spent the last three years of my life dedicated to our high school newspaper. Reading a student produced paper reminds me of my favorite times. Plus I get to see how another school writes and designs their paper. Call it research for future projects.

While reading Monday's issue, I came across an article about possibly adding a fall break somewhere in the calendar in the near future. I have friends that attend Hendrix and UCA and feel jealous when they come home for a "glorified weekend" and I can't seem to find time to spend with them between going to classes and working full time hours. A fall break would have been wonderful this fall. This is my first semester in college and after a big change from high school, some things seemed very overwhelming. A fall break would have giving me a couple days to catch up on sleep and reevaluate my study habits, as well as start planning for my next few years of college.

A few conditions were mentioned if this new fall break were to be implemented. The semester might start sooner than it usually does or end later than usual. The starting early part I wouldn't really have a problem with. Beginning the semester sooner wouldn't be that bad if I had a fall break to look forward to. It wouldn't seem as bad. But the ending later part I do have a problem with. Final exams are already too close to Christmas for my liking. Although I already live at home, this doesn't give much time for me to recuperate from the semester before spending days at several family gatherings or working late hours because of the busy holidays. Not to mention Christmas shopping. That doesn't seem very likely if I'm spending every spare moment before Christmas studying for my tests. Overall this seems like a good idea to me if it is approached correctly. The fall break is supposed to improve students' sanity not diminish it even more.