Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
It’s Friday. Your last seminar just finished, you’ve packed your bags, and you have a whole week free from class stretching out in front of you. What will you do? Of course, for Swatties, the answers will be just as diverse as our own community.
1) “Time to Mooch Off of My Parents” Spring Break
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of waking up in your own bed. Still in pajamas, you walk downstairs and make yourself a bowl of cereal, just the way you like it. Maybe you’ll visit your hometown friends, or maybe not. Who knows? The living room is your oyster. “Dad, can I borrow the car today? Mom, did you make cookies again?” Enjoy your time back in the nest for a week.
2) “Let’s Take a Selfie” Spring Break
You’re one of the lucky Swatties who lives on the West Coast (or really just anywhere warmer than Swarthmore…) and you can’t wait to tell everyone how much warmer it is where you are than where they are! You’ll post so many selfies showing you basking in the 80 degree weather on your Snapchat story. Everyone will get it after one, so don’t go TOO crazy. But do get tan and enjoy the Vitamin D while you can: it may help you from falling victim to the Swat Plague.
3) “Why Did My Professor Schedule a Midterm the Week After Break?” Spring Break
The week before break, you were smug while your friends scrambled to finish essays and study for exams. Now you’re the one who’s scrambling. There’s going to be short responses, two essays, and even a map quiz on this monster of a test! What was your professor thinking? As you sift through your notes, which seem to be 80% doodles, you start to wonder if you shouldn’t just take a break and watch an episode of House of Cards. Just one.
4) “Sleep, House of Cards, and More Sleep” Spring Break
You live pretty close to Swarthmore , so you’re going home but it isn’t warm—hell, it might even be colder!—and none of your hometown friends are on break (or you’re staying on campus… I’m sorry about that). What’s the perfect Spring Break event? House of Cards! Since you had four midterms the week before break, you weren’t lucky enough to watch the entire season before you left Swat. Instead, you’ll binge watch all thirteen episodes on Monday and then feel hopelessly lost for the rest of break. “Why must we wait one more year!?” you will ask yourself. Rest assured everyone else is asking the same thing.
5) “I’ll Spring Break Like I Go to a State School” Spring Break
“Flight 815 from Philadelphia to Cancun is now boarding,” you hear as you hand your boarding pass to the gate agent before flying to paradise. You’re ready for some excitement (probably on your parents’ dime) and you’re ready to feel like you go to an actual party school: Mexico, here you come!
Featured image courtesy of Eat More Real Food.
