March 19, 2008

A Return to Reality: Students Recount Their Spring Breaks

As Murphy would have it, the beginning of our long-awaited spring break coincided with one of the worst winter storms to hit Ohio in recent years. Expected scenes of students joyfully leaving over the weekend were replaced by scenes of students staring out at twenty inches of snow, their cars buried and flights cancelled. While the lucky ones managed to leave before the storm’s peak, many of us had to postpone saying goodbye to OWU for a few more days, if at all. (By the way, a big thank you to the OWU staff that made sure us stranded folk were fed and informed!)

Despite the rough start, students generally made the most of the break. Many went home to be with their families, enjoying a reprieve from their schoolwork. Allie Cohen ’10 says, “I went home to Dublin, Ohio, then visited friends and family in New Jersey. I also stopped by New York for a day and got my portrait—well, okay, caricature—done for five bucks.” Laura Bayer ’09, who like Allie drove home before it became illegal to do so, says of her break, “It was good but boring. And cold.” At home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Laura met up with friends and saw her ‘puppy,’ a 90-pound Golden Retriever.

Others were content to call Delaware home for the week. “I stayed here,” Duy Nguyen ’10 says. “I spent most of my day watching TV shows online, then at night went to my friend’s house to hang out.” Staying on campus wasn’t too boring for him, because many of his friends had chosen to stay back. “We played a lot of poker,” he admits.

On the other hand, not everyone was as accepting of their proximity to the campus. “I was miserable!” Dante Santino ’09 says after regretting his decision to stay in Delaware for the week. “My friends were all gone, and there was nothing to do. I went up to Columbus with a friend one night, and it was the highlight of my week. I’m a spontaneous guy. But it’s hard to be spontaneous on your own, unless you spontaneously combust or something, which is what I felt like doing by the end of break.”

Zac Salamon ’09 took a different route—one that took him far from Ohio. “I went to Barcelona and Amsterdam” he says. “I went to see friends who are studying abroad there, but I also just like to travel. Europe is awesome.” Although he did elaborate on what exactly made Europe so awesome, perhaps it is best to simply say he enjoyed himself. A lot.

Similarly, Danny Brown ’08 chose to enjoy life a little closer to home, despite setbacks. After his plan to rent a house in Florida with eight people fell apart before the break started, he went to Georgia to soak up the sun. “The ocean was too cold to swim in but the weather was nice,” he says. “I spent all of my money living the good life and didn’t do any work.” Danielle Distelhorst ’11 also found her travel plans altered, due to the storm. “I was supposed to go to Washington, D.C. and New York, but I stayed in Marion, where I celebrated my birthday,” she says.

The ways in which OWU students spent their breaks are diverse, and some chose to spend it helping others. Several mission trips went out, including a Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge Program in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Mark Miller ’09 participated in the program. “We helped build a house for a mother of two,” he says. “I really enjoyed it. I got to whack a hammer and meet great people.” Hopefully the two instances are related only indirectly.

We can always count on professors to keep themselves busy during break. One professor actually declined to talk about his break because he constantly worked through it. Patricia DeMarco, professor of English and AMRS Studies, saw being snowed-in as a fun start to an eventful break. “I dug out my cross-country skis and had fun trekking through the neighborhood. During the week, I corrected page proofs on an article that I’ve written on Chaucer, which is now headed off to press. And, over the weekend, I saw a spectacular performance of Benjamin Britten’s opera, Peter Grimes, thanks to the HD simulcast of the Metropolitan Opera.”

Despite the various activities and sentiments towards the break, the hard truth we face now is that it’s time to resume our daily schedules and go back to work. Some, like Laura, are still in denial: “I really desperately do not want to work right now.” Others, like Dante, are glad to see familiar faces again: “This is the first time I’ve actually wanted to come back to school.”

Then again, on the bright side there’s one more break we can all look forward to, a break that almost surpasses the ‘awesomeness’ of the previous week: the break of morning on the first real spring day. And with all the snow and all the rain beating on this town, at least I certainly am.

– Bea Pantoja ’10