Spring break endorphins will release in 3…2….1

As you read this, your eyes are most likely glued to the clock, waiting for the dreary months of January through March to come to a close and for spring break to finally begin. For a blissful week, there will be no worrying about truckloads of schoolwork in day-to-day life. Beyond merely resting and recharging, break has a multitude of traits necessary for the mental well-being of both students and teachers.

First, break allows for simple decompression of the mind and body. Students across the country sometimes balance six or more classes, extracurriculars and, to stack the list even higher, part-time jobs. This balancing act of responsibilities hardly ever receives appropriate recognition. A pat on the back or a “good job” may be about it. A chunk of time to just relax from the hindrance of chaotic school schedules is not just a want, but a need. A break like this within the school year prevents burnout. 

The high school need to “do everything” seems to be growing.  Advanced classes, working a job, participating in a million extracurriculars, and somehow fitting a social life or a relationship can be exhausting. According to the World Health Organization, burnout “is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” “Successfully managing workplace stress” is absolutely not skipping a spring break. With college and standardized tests on the horizon, our brains cannot be fogged up by the syndrome that is burnout. That is why this week is so incredibly important: it prevents all of the gunk of the school year from building up before it pops, which leads to breakdowns and an overall stress overload. While it may seem sensible to skip the break and just finish the year earlier, this last breath of freedom before the big push to AP tests and end of the year projects and papers means more than a few extra days of summer. Spring break isn’t just good for the mind- the physical body benefits from this week of rest just as much.

Decreasing mental stress pays immediate benefits to physiological rejuvenation. Depression, seasonal or non-chronic, may lead to headaches, fatigue, and digestive problems, and anxiety can cause severe stomach issues. Studies have found that if you are able to maintain a good mental state, you may be able to prevent serious illnesses. An ideal spring break, one that is sunny and 75 degrees, allows more time to reap the benefits of not only some extra vitamin D, but the prevention of developing mental and physical disorders. How is this affecting the other part of the building- teachers?

Students are not the only ones suffering throughout the school year, and they’re not the only ones that need a break-- teachers do too. Successfully managing a classroom for five days a week is also incredibly difficult. Even at a high school level, making sure that students listen and are getting something out of the class requires a week of rest every once in a while. According to Edweek, 75 percent of teachers and 85 percent of principals report experiencing work-related stress while only third of working adults in non-educational jobs do in general. Putting that pressure on teachers that they’re ‘teaching the future of this world how to be good humans’ may cause a teensy bit of workplace stress. So, if it’s needed for teachers and it is needed for students, what is the dilemma here? Are there seriously people claiming that we don’t need a spring break?

Most would easily understand the silliness of such a proposition. Most of the criticisms are aimed at college spring breakers for obvious issues of overindulgence and irresponsibility. Well, frankly, that is their own decision and not our problem. Students using this time as intended shouldn’t be punished because some decide to make poor decisions. So what if they are? They are still technically using this time as intended. They are taking a break from the 9-month-long constant workload of a full school year. Also, traveling, of any kind, is incredibly necessary for the mind, body, and soul.

Humans are communal creatures and rely on communication with others as a means of survival. Getting this week off of school allows for that communication to happen in a place that isn’t filled to the brim with work-related stress. It’s good for students and teachers to be able to just chill without the worry of what they have next period or if they did the homework. People, in general, travel for a multitude of reasons: for leisure, for work, to study abroad, or because they don’t have school and they can. And that last one is the main reason such a herd of students travel during spring break. But, traveling has a lot more perks than just cute beach pics and an excuse to blow up Instagram.

Travel can be a refuge for any one person for any one reason. For students, it may be a way to escape the responsibilities of school and the anxieties of looking for colleges. Visiting mountains or going to a beach sparks our creative juices and it allows us to experience something new. From January to March, for a lot of students, days start blending together and everything a student does may seem meaningless. With traveling, we get a break from the extreme continuities entangled with being in high school. Traveling pushes one out of a comfort zone, and this pushes the brain to build more synaptic connections, the key to why travel has been deemed ‘the best education.’

The weeks leading up to summer seem to drag their long legs across these dusty floors. It seems like the workload never ends; students find themselves in what seems to be an endless rut. This spring break, focus on doing exactly that: take a break! It is not necessary to constantly be doing something to feel whole. It’s okay to be lazy, it’s okay to not be productive, and it’s okay not to be stressed. So do those things you’ve been meaning to do but haven’t had enough time and, most of all, just relax. Your mind, body, and soul will thank you!

by Anika Flores

Published March 17, 2023

Oshkosh West Index Volume 119 Issue VI