Spring break is everyone’s favorite time to relax and rejuvenate just after midterms, and … wait, what is that? A 10-PAGE ESSAY DUE THE MONDAY AFTER BREAK?!?
Despite the name, spring break often feels like anything but a break for college students. Professors seem determined to make some random assignment due either during or right after the break, while still preaching the importance of using the time off wisely to work on things other than school.
So, in a final desperate plea, I beg professors to stop assigning work over break.
Husson University Online identifies academic pressure and expectation as main causes of academic burnout. The expectation to meet deadline after deadline, maintain high grades and study hard for every test is very taxing, especially over a long period of time. Spring break should provide a much-needed break for students to let off some of the stress and prevent burnout.
Social isolation and lack of support were also identified as causes of academic burnout. Spring break gives students time to focus on their friends and family rather than their education for one short week. Don’t take that away from them.
A clinical perspective paper on burnout points out that most people take three months to recover from short-term burnout, and over a year to recover from intensive burnout. By taking preventative steps, such as healthy breaks from school or work, burnout can be easily prevented.
Some students, myself included, take intensive classes over spring break that require them to complete multiple assignments every day in order to finish a course.
Picture yourself running across hot coals while juggling multiple torches and hula hooping a ring that’s on fire. That’s the average intensive class experience. Add homework from other classes on top of that, and now you’re running on a narrow rope that is on fire over an active volcano.
Students who don’t have spring break intensives may still want to use this time to get schoolwork done. Breaks are a great opportunity to review concepts leading up to a midterm or final, as well as to get ahead on major assignments. For students with a lot of obligations, they may be able to use this time to get ahead on work for a week they know they will be struggling during.
This is also a crucial time period to clean the dorm, apartment or house, catch up on laundry and run all the errands that students have been putting off for weeks in favor of focusing on school. For many, this may be time to visit family or finally book that doctor’s appointment.
Finally, let your students go have fun! We don’t get to be young forever and we desperately crave the opportunity to get out and do something new and fun with our friends. Don’t be the one to hold your students back from the vacation (or staycation) of a lifetime.
Photo by Romina BM on Unsplash.