Study break or spring break?

By Katrina Garcia
The Collegian

Spring break is glorified by the wild antics on “Spring Break MTV” and feared by moms everywhere. But is this tradition among college students as familiar as the sunscreen and sand?

“It’s more of a freshman-sophomore thing,” senior business marketing major Shelly Peters said.

“Freshman year all my friends went somewhere. Now almost everyone I know is staying here.”

Peters is one of several students who believe students in their junior and senior years tend to use the much-needed weeklong vacation to catch up on sleep and studying, opting for day and overnight trips to nearby destinations as opposed to big vacations.

“I don’t think it’s as popular,” junior Jennifer Arnold, a business marketing major, said of the amount of people actually going on spring break. “High-school students and freshman students, yeah. ‘The O.C.’ is a perfect example of what people think spring break is. It’s a huge stereotype.”

But perhaps the partying ways of high-schoolers as seen on TV isn’t all that far from the truth. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, travel industry experts said about one in seven young people who travel to spring break party destinations is a high school student.

Another reason for the lack of wild Fresno State spring breakers may also be because of the relative closeness to beaches and Mexico. Gloria Roman, a travel agent at Travel Shoppe in Fresno, cited limitations at once-popular spring break towns for a reason not as many students may go wild. Roman said while some resorts in Mexico and Cancun still allow college students to party it up, a number of resorts are no longer allowing for students to stay at them over spring break.

Peters said once students enter their third and fourth years of college, the pressures of midterms and term papers increase, and just taking time to relax and finish homework is what students want to do.

“I’m looking forward to just relaxing,” Arnold said. “Spring break is almost like being able to take a deep breath from school.”

However, some students do have MTV-esque party plans. Julian Ramirez, a Fresno State junior, said he and four of his fraternity brothers will be going on a four-night cruise to Ensenada. Ramirez said partying hard over break is still popular among college students because it’s a time for everyone to let loose.

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