Donovan Wilson – Reporter
The decision to cancel spring break during next semester comes with both positives and negatives.
The choice was made by the president of the Connecticut Board of Regents Mark Ojakian on Sept. 18.
The decision extended winter break by a week, but canceled spring break to limit travel since the previous one greatly contributed to the spread of COVID-19.
I can see why the university would make such a decision. However, it causes unneeded repercussions to some students, including myself.
This method appears to be used by the school in an effort to cut down on out of state travel from students. This makes sense in that it will do just that, but the university cannot entirely control students traveling during the rest of the semester.
However, I don’t know if the idea of completely cutting off students is the better decision to follow.
To play devil’s advocate, students will find a way to travel regardless. With classes being partially online, students can do homework from anywhere. Therefore, there is more incentive for them to leave since most of them do not even have to come to campus in the first place.
While some students will admittedly abuse their power and go all around the world, there are regulations already put in place by the state of Connecticut to prevent the spread of the disease.
There is no need for a university to impede on a student’s life by overstepping the state government’s authority.
Also, students with plans just to go home and see their parents should not be penalized. College has the tendency to cause people to become homesick and being homesick can affect mental health and in turn also affect class performance.
Students need a connection with home to stay happy and happiness is key, esspecially for a college student at this time we are in.
Breaks are also very important in a student’s life. When you constantly put your whole 24/7 focus on school and are also accustomed to having break at certain times, the removal of that can cause burn out. This happening can discourage newer students in terms of effort or even of finishing their degrees.
The extension of winter break is nice, but going all the time after it without seeing family is hard and drain.
However, I do understand the overall good impact. It is better to sacrifice and take precautions for the greater good but it does undoubtedly have its cons. With much mental health for it to affect us in the long run do think that we should heighten mental health support and its readily availability during the spring break and even beyond that.
We should find other ways besides a week long break to incorporate throughout the semester to give students that mental break, but also keep them safe.
Without it, students might be more burnt out than ever before and that will wear down on them immensely and honestly, that’s concerning. We need to be proactive based on our decisions.
Spring break should still be in rotation, or even some other variation of it, however if it’s not, the school needs to take responsibility for that and act accordingly.
