Spring break: the madness, the mayhem, the mojitos.
Isolated, these words conjure completely innocent images: Say “spring,” I think of baby chicks and flowers. Say “break,” I think of Kit Kat bars (yum).
Put them together and oh! The best possible results you can come up with are Gob sinking the family yacht before a crowd of scantily clad college students, and the worst, some fantastically grimy drunken mosh pit with a palm tree sprinkled here and there, not fit for Tucker Max’s worst machinations.
The dilemma: how do you do spring break?
Obviously, spring break doesn’t have to be like that.
For a start, I don’t think most people’s parents feel comfortable funding their children’s debauchery quite so overtly. Yet the few that do enjoy the full-fledged booze cruise carry on the legend, perpetuating it for the rest of us, and let’s face it, for the bracket of 25 to 35-year-old males who are not quite ready to relinquish their college days and who cling to the belief that there is a better life going on once a year down in Cancun or wherever. I personally would find it hard to face the day if a small part of me couldn’t cling to the belief that the events of the movie Cocktail were not based on reality.
I think most students at Hopkins fall into a somewhat predictable cycle.
Freshman usually go home and vacation with their families; this is the time when most kids take care of those last minute procedures that come along with their maturing bodies such as wisdom teeth pulling.
Sophomore year I’d say is a split. Some people go off with their friends and some people go home.
Junior year, there is definitely more of a leap towards going away with people that you know, but to be honest, I can’t remember spring break from last year at all. Did it even happen? It must have.
Senior year, there is definitely a mood of the “last hurrah” variety that floats around like a contagion and makes people buy plane tickets in the middle of the night to Mardi Gras, or worse, just pick up and drive. As far as spring break is concerned, it’s surprising how many people are actually using it to apply to jobs, or just plain sleep. There is also a solid community of beachgoers subscribing to plans of the all-inclusive drinks and sun variety on various Caribbean islands. They’re the ones with the highest likelihood of finding those indefatigable Tom Cruise types and then going to N.Y. to start nightclubs. But I digress.
I think my biggest tip would be to get some rest. We are all so tired and stressed all the time that I think it goes without saying: this break is absolutely necessary. Just make sure to actually give yourself a break. Replacing mental and academic stress with physical stress isn’t exactly restful. If you’re traveling, make it a vacation, not a trip.
My other piece of advice, and take it for what it’s worth, is protect yourself from the sun. Even if you tan really easily, you’re going to look like a raisin in 20 years, so it’s worth it to invest in a bottle of spray-on spf 10 just to spare yourself the future aggravation. I have recently been reminded of how uncomfortable sunburn is, and while I could give you my opinion on every aloe-based product in existence (I have tried them all), I would say to just prevent this from happening to yourself and cover up appropriately.
And that’s about all. Enjoy the holiday from Hopkins and get pumped for spring and all it has to offer on this beautiful campus. And can someone please tell me what I did last year around this time? This mental fugue is a little disconcerting.
