Spring break is coming up on Feb. 27-March 4 and all of St. John’s University students have exciting plans coming up. Whether you’re going somewhere warm or staying on campus and enjoying the city, make it one for the books.
Natalie Artiles is a junior who studied abroad spring 2016 and was a part of the Discover the World program, where she traveled to Seville, Paris and Rome. Her spring break abroad lasted a week.
She and her friends took a trip to the Amalfi Coast in Italy with a student travel agency called Bus2Alps, and went there with other study abroad students from other universities.
They went to the island of Capri on a boat cruise and went under the Blue Grotto, which translates to ‘cave in the water.’ Artiles said, “When you get to the top of the island of Capri, there’s a beautiful edge of the mountain cliff, so we all jumped over to it and took sick pictures.”
On the last day, she and other study abroad students had a beach day on the Amalfi coast consisting of gelato, paninis and sunshine. The beach has black little pebbles and the water was super clear.
Her friend Michael Johnson, also a junior on the trip, said something memorable to her that she’ll never forget, “We’re never going to be able to relive this moment.
We won’t be able to be in Europe with all of our friends at four months at a time with our friends.” It’s a once in a lifetime experience. Natalie suggests that everyone studies abroad.
Katarina Guerrero is from Miami, Fla. This is the glorified spring break destination for several college students. Being from Miami, Guerrero never really planned a spring break trip.
She dedicated it to volunteering for the Sony Miami Open which she’s been participating in for four years. What Guerrero loved most about volunteering for the open was the atmosphere and being around a sport that she loves. The location was amazing as well, being on an island called Key Biscayne.
She never had to plan a trip with friends because her friends would volunteer with her at the Open. She would tell her parents, “You can go on a trip, but I’m staying here in Miami.”
There were foreign people from all over the world at the Open, so she always met new and interesting people. She cites this as what makes volunteering for the Sony Miami Open memorable. Guerrero would say the “hype” for going to Miami for spring break is definitely true.
Spring break is a week of partying and depending what week your break falls on, students can go to Ultra, Nikki Beach, but overall, there are always lively spring break events occurring.
Guerrero says it’s the perfect escape from cold weather, which is something all of us St. John’s students can relate to.
Alejandro Martinez is a sophomore who dedicates his spring breaks to family and work. He’s actually never been on a vacation during spring break and feels that spending the week with his family is the best thing to do.
His best memory with spending his spring break with his family is being together at a big dinner table, with a lot of delicious food, and telling jokes.
Many college students enjoy vacationing during spring break, but there are the many of us that go back home and spend it with family.
This is always great, and wonderful to catch up with family members in midst of our hectic college schedules.
One of his favorite memories from his spring break with his family is waking up and playing basketball all day with his cousins until they got tired.
It’s always great to spend time with his brothers because they partake in activities they did as children, and it’s always a wonderful, youthful reminder.
He looks forward to stuffing his face with food with his cousins and playing gamecube till they pass out this year.
Xitaaz Rampersad spent her spring break in her native Trinidad last year. Spring break always falls around carnival season, which Rampersad loves participating in. It is a two-day masquerade festival where people wear costumes, dance and celebrate around the city for almost 10 hours a day.
Her senior year of high school was her first time participating and she signed up at 16 since individuals need to sign up for a band one year in advance.
She has met Amber Rose at Carnival and Diplo at a pre-Carnival party.
Being in a band means going on stage and dancing collectively; there are 20 bands overall. There is pretty mass, black mass and traditional mass. Rampersad has also been featured on TV dancing in Carnival.
Even though the festival is only two days, the partying is nonstop the whole week. Rampersad says participating in carnival is the highlight of her life and everyone should go experience carnival at least once in their lifetime.
Whether you’re traveling internationally, nationally, or even going back home, make sure your spring break is memorable. Life is too short to not come back to campus with a great story to tell.
