By Abbey Ferguson | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
I was already hours into planning an extensive road trip to Yosemite National Park for spring break before my roommate and I realized most roads would be snowed in, and our dreams for a beautiful, warm camping trip were quickly crushed.
Unfortunately, early March in Northern California and so many other places across the country still undergo winter-like weather. A majority of my friends from high school who attend universities all around the country are able to travel to vacation destinations during their spring breaks in late March or early April because the weather has shifted to be more travel-friendly.
Baylor’s spring break is too early compared to other universities.
According to Studentcity, only 20% of colleges across the U.S. have the same 2023 spring break dates as Baylor, with the remaining 80% having their break planned for a later date.
Most of my hometown friends’ spring breaks align with one another’s, meaning they can meet up in our hometown, but Baylor’s oddly early spring break means I will be home two weeks before them.
On top of the weather-related drawbacks, Baylor’s spring break timing doesn’t allow students to feel fully adjusted to the new semester before disrupting that period of adaptation with a long break.
Baylor students have only been on campus for seven weeks before spring break hits. On the other hand, for example, Grand Canyon University students will have been on campus for 10 weeks before their spring break starts.
Even those extra three weeks can leave students feeling more adjusted to new semester classes and falling into a scheduled routine without the quick turnaround from winter to spring break. Midterms and project due dates also fall either right before or right after the weeklong break, leaving students feeling stressed during a time set aside for relaxation.
However, some students enjoy an earlier break because it’s an interruption. Especially because the turnaround is quick between winter and spring break, an earlier spring break can provide much-needed rest to recharge and prepare for the final push during the last half of the semester.
Pushing Baylor’s spring break back even one week would give students a period of rest, but provides more benefits than the current schedule in place, especially regarding weather and midterm timing.
Baylor’s Calendar Comm-ittee told The Lariat via email they have never discussed changing the timing of spring break. They said one change to the calendar they had discussed in the past was the transition to a weeklong Thanksgiving break, which was implemented in the fall of 2021.
Baylor shouldn’t jump into the spring break celebration too soon and instead push it back to align with the majority of other universities across the U.S. Maybe then I could actually enjoy the warm sunshine of beautiful Yosemite in late March.
