College can be very stressful for students, and that stress doubles when midterms are brought into the equation.

Thankfully, spring break exists to help relieve students from their academic drudgery. Spring break is important because it gives students a chance to breathe before returning to their myriad of academic commitments.

So why do some professors choose to use spring break as an excuse for doling out even more work? What is supposed to be a break for stressed-out students has been turned into a week filled with researching, writing, and doing all sorts of work for professors who can’t even give their students a chance to relax.

Perhaps some people view spring break as an excuse for students to lie around and party, or just as a waste of time that could be better spent in the classroom.

What these people are failing to see is the enormous amount of stress that students experience just before the break. Sure, classroom time is important; but studying constantly without taking a break is not very conducive to learning. Just lazing around, relaxing, and spending time having fun is a necessity for humans. No on can go through life without having any downtime.

This problem does not seem to be as widespread during the fall, where the presence of the Thanksgiving holiday during the break after midterms tends to influence professors to back off of the regular workload.

Spring break is just as necessary a break, with or without a holiday. The relief it gives students can be amazing, but when work is given it merely adds to the stress.
Beyond the added stress, professors should also keep in mind that the resources a person may find at home or on vacation are certainly less than when at St. John’s. Online connectivity may be hard or even impossible to come by for people
over the break.

Research materials that are easily found at the University might not be available in every library or research center around. Writing a research paper using a small-town library is certainly more difficult than using the expansive collection at St. John’s.

Some professors also seem to think that making something due after spring break should give the student plenty of time to work on it. It probably should, but making it due at the end of the first week back would probably ease the stress of many.
Education, learning, and hard work are an essential part of life for everyone. People strive for knowledge, and work hard to do the best they can in life.

The students at St. John’s are no different and work non-stop in pursuit of an education. For one week, everyone deserves
a break.

Spring break is not a way for students to avoid putting in the work for their education; it’s a reward for all of their hard work. It may not be much, but that week off helps people keep their sanity throughout the rest of the semester.

It is understandable and commendable that professors value academia as much as they do, but everyone needs a break.

People have their whole lives to do work, but they only get a few chances to have a spring break. Every student deserves to enjoy it for the short amount of time that they are given the chance.