Realistic Fall Break Advice

By Cristina Pines

Fall break is such a beautiful time to relax, spend time with friends, and refuse to open Canvas for any reason whatsoever. There’s literally nothing you can’t do during fall break, and as discussion-based classes would say: there are no wrong answers. Now that, my friends, is fake news. 

As an eager freshman, I thought it made so much sense to spend the break here, at our lovely university. Boy, was I wrong! In all honesty, being from Florida, it made no sense for me to fly home - two of the four days would have been spent traveling, and none of my friends would be there. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize all the benefits I was missing as the long weekend dragged on. I could’ve gone to my nail tech and gotten an amazing manicure (something unheard of in this town). I could’ve gone to the fun fondue restaurant. I could’ve spent my days at the beach and my nights in the pool. I could’ve slept in my own bed and used my own bathroom. I could’ve had air conditioning. And, most importantly, I could’ve cuddled with my dog. Seeing my parents would have been a good use of my time, too…

Jokes aside, it was so hard to believe that almost everyone left for the break! I woke up on Saturday, more than thrilled to have the suite to myself. I cleaned, and the place stayed clean for four whole days! But, by 1:30 pm on Saturday, my excitement began to dwindle. And then, it was 2:00 pm on Saturday, and I decided to take a nap because there was nothing else to do. Luckily, there was a soccer game at 4:00 - and it was a soccer game. After, it was 6:00 pm on Saturday, so I dragged my one friend still on campus to Best Buy in hopes of getting a phone case. But guess what, Best Buy did not have the phone case I was looking for at 6:17 pm on Saturday! With my feelings hurt, we headed back to campus, and the day was finished at 7:00 pm on Saturday.

Given that fall break started with a bang, I couldn’t wait to see what else was in store! On Sunday at 10:30 am, I went to Mass (and I had a whole pew to myself - the good life)! Sunday at 11:30 am, I got brunch. Sunday at 1:00 pm, I returned to my *still clean* room and started rewatching Gilmore Girls. That’s it.

Monday was going to be better, I just knew it, especially because I was sure that some people would head back to campus a little early, right? Haha, nope. I knew my day was just magical when donating blood, which I thought would be a 25-minute process, took over an hour - still, I love helping others, especially on my Monday of fall break. I managed to go sightseeing at Wegmans for the first time at 3:30 pm, though! And then, my gorilla sisters (eyebrows) were removed from my face at 4:00 pm on Monday. It was my most action-packed day by far.

Without losing hope, I strode into Tuesday with an open heart, an open mind, and I will never do that again. You thought the other days of my fall break were boring? I actually did nothing on Tuesday. I could have slept, but I couldn’t sleep because I had been sleeping the other three days, and I wasn’t going to get ahead on work because why would I do that? It even came to the point where I did not want to watch TV because I just didn’t want to. It’s always a heart-breaking moment to know that the best kind of entertainment is not good enough anymore. 

On the bright side, everyone came back Tuesday night, and it was like a breath of fresh air. In other words, I basically quarantined myself for no reason, and I will never be doing that again, respectfully. If you’re ever wondering what you should do for fall break, or any break, or even a three-day weekend at this point, I would advise you to go anywhere else - anywhere - even if that anywhere is Snoozeville.