Spring Break Saunter

I woke up at 7:30 am the day after Spring Break is over. Was I hung over from tons of partying? No. Was I completely exhausted from the lack of sleep that I had during the break? Absolutely... I, along with thousands of other college students, sauntered into class the morning after Spring Break and were completely worn out. WHY?! This is idiotic.

Spring Break is intended to be a period of relaxation for students hard at work throughout the school year. A whole week is given to us, no scholastic requirements (for the most part), no parental restrictions, no deadlines, and no alarm clocks. I'd be willing to bet, however, that the majority of college students who return from their Spring Break vacations do so more tired than when they left. This is a curious problem to me. What in the world are we thinking? What could we possibly be doing that could cause such an illogical result from our actions?

We leave for Spring Break thinking, "I'm going to get rested." Most people plan on sleeping longer than they would normally get to. At the same time, many people leave thinking, "I don't care, I'm going to do whatever it takes to have a good time. I've worked hard, and I deserve to have some fun of my own." This desire is a natural one. Many in students in college actually work very hard. We do deserve to take a break and have some fun. However the process by which we do so is occasionally flawed. It seems like poor time-management is one of the flaws that has tarnished what Spring Break can be for us.

See the problem arises when people try to combine the two desires that I mentioned earlier: sleep more, and go crazy having a good time. OK, so why is this problematic? It doesn't seem all that hard. Whenever people attempt to do this, they typically do one of two things. They either 1. sleep later in the day and stay out later at night, or 2. sleep until the afternoon every day and then sit around and do nothing. I'm not sure why this seems like a good idea. This behavior obviously creates an unnatural sleeping pattern.

Now that we have gotten somewhat used to this new pattern, we go back to school, have to wake up early, and do work all day. Surprise! You're tired, and you don't want to do anything, especially school work. Everyone seems to hate going back to school after Spring Break. I think a little annoyance is understandable, but the transition from vacation to education could be made much more easily.

If we could learn to balance the desire to sleep and the desire to go out and have fun, we could experience the benefits of a break more appropriately. This is a very simple thing to do... I know that it can be very easy to slip out of the 'controlled' aspect of everyday life for a college student, but gaining freedom and shoving off self-control is a dangerous combination. Have a good time people! That is what Spring Break is for. Just keep in mind that eventually you will be required to go back to the routines you left on campus. Whether you like it or not, controlling yourself and maintaining regular sleep patterns will pay off as soon as you hear that alarm on the first day back.