Rest, relaxation and wild celebrations, the American Spring Break originates from the Grecian tradition of celebrating spring’s return. Over the three-day festival of Anthesteria, teens and young adults would indulge in Dionysian drinking, dancing and general merriment honoring the changing seasons. 

Though these roots in ancient Greece are not what modern teens associate with Spring Break, its incorporation into school calendars is meant to provide students with a similar period of relaxation. On a rigorous academic campus like UHS, Spring Break is a period many students look forward to.

“My excitement for Spring Break has stayed consistent since the start of high school,” senior Ally Shephard said. “I’m always happy for a break. Having no homework to worry about is always nice, and hopefully, my friends who have gone off to college will have more free time to talk.”

While some stay at home, other students use Spring Break as an opportunity to travel, spend time with family and aid their communities. 

“Spring Break is usually pretty quiet for me, [but] this year, my family and I are taking a trip to Portugal,” freshman Silas Potma said. “Otherwise, I don’t have any obligations besides getting enough community service hours for History Honors distinction, but it shouldn’t be a big deal since I won’t be at school.”

However, many students stray from the original intention of Spring Break as a time of relaxation. Although most consider it a break from the daily obligation of class, many students use it as a time for work in extracurriculars and personal pursuits. Sophomore Tsuki Allamehzadeh is an example of a student planning to use the time away from school to work on his projects.  

“I’m excited for Spring Break this year because I plan to launch an art business through Etsy during it,” Allamehzadeh said. “I might end up having to check out colleges over a day or two of break, but to be honest, I’m kind of excited to do that since I haven’t had a chance to look at any colleges in-person yet.” 

Others argue that Spring Break is the perfect time for this type of non-academic work as well as the preferred time to have uninterrupted time to work on extracurricular work. 

“I’m looking forward to Spring Break since it will give me more time to be productive,” freshman Manas Bhushan said. “I won’t be going on any trips, which I think is good so I won’t need a readjustment period before I get used to working again. I do have music, art, and chemistry extracurriculars that I’ll have to work on, but having them makes me look forward to the break more as I will have time to do them. School won’t get in the way of them and I’ll be a lot less stressed despite still doing the work.” 

Contrary to the majority of the attitudes of the UHS student population, some students are less than enthusiastic about the upcoming time off from school. While many would rather take a break from their studies, the daily activity of class provides students with a consistent routine, which some would rather not have disrupted. 

“I’m usually not that excited for Spring Break,” freshman Chase Byer said. “It’s only a week, so it’s usually going to go one of two ways: we’ll either be going places constantly and it’ll be completely exhausting, or it’ll be a boring week of staying inside and doing nothing. It’s hard to choose which I’d rather have. On the bright side, I know the week before is going to be filled with tests and projects, so it makes me a bit happy to not have school after that.”

This coming April, UHS students’ enthusiasm for Spring Break greatly varies across individuals, depending on their plans, extracurricular obligations and lack thereof. However, a majority of students including those who dislike Spring Break can agree, having a respite during the busiest time of the year is close to the modern version of Grecian revelry.