Universal Information Services

We All Need Breaks!

Around this time a year the spring break frenzy is coasting into the home stretch. I use frenzy to describe the buzz spring break gets this time of year because it truly become all consuming in terms of thought and resources.. I start to see things like sunglass’ croakies and beverage coozies recommended in my Amazon App. Of course the all too cliched, “What your child is really doing on spring break” news stories are shotgunned all over traditional and social media. My unscientific media analysis, I should have used Universal Information Services, shows these news pieces are about 85% negative. Apparently no journalist wants to give spring break a fair shake. So I, a two-time “spring breaker”, will talk about why students might need spring break and what spring break does for for the average student.

First, lets start with the reason we need spring break. It boils down to the same science behind why I am constantly reminded that studying in short increments with breaks in between is more effective than a 9 hour cram session. It comes down to giving one the ability to completely unplug from the normal grind of undergraduate studies and rest up. I’m not saying that being a full-time student is some great burden, but it does require strange schedules and a feast or famine approach to sleep.

Work Hard, Play Hard

To be  honest, will I be getting my recommended 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep during my time in Cancun? No. But those late nights and wild times give you a different type of rest, an emotional one. Not having to worry about my statistics homework, or when my next accounting exam will be, is a freeing feeling and gives your mind a chance to reboot. And yes, I do get some sleep at night and some more sleep at times during the day, but most importantly I can put the brain into park for a prolonged period of time.

I would argue that being emotionally rested is just as important as being physically rested. If you don’t sleep for three days your body gets run down, your immune system slows and you run low on mood stabilizers like serotonin. I believe your body experiences something similar when you have been working for too long without an extended break. Jack Nicholson said it best in the Shining, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.

Nobody wants to be a dull boy and college students need a little play in between all our work. I realize my exuberance for Spring Break will wane in my later years, but I don’t think the value of taking an extended time to unplug will every lose value. So with that I rest my case for Spring Break. Yes, it is a luxury. But to those who will be hiring me and my peers in the years to come, we recognize we can only work hard for you, given you our best, if we do have some time off periodically.

This has been another post by Teddy Murphy. I’m keeping my eye on what’s next.