Springin’ to life
Whether students are going out of Logan, somewhere exotic or just going home, Spring Break will give students a rest from the daily grind of school.
“Spring Break is the most important part of spring semester,” Jeremy Salzetti, junior majoring in family, consumer and human development, said. “By the time it’s spring break everybody’s at their nerves end and needs a break.”
Salzetti is going to start out in Las Vegas, then go to California and then jump on a plane and go to St. Louis for his nephew’s graduation from Army basic training. While in California, he’ll concentrate on the beach and just do whatever he feels like, he said.
However, safety should be on students minds while having fun.
Jescee Bennett, a graduate student majoring in community health education and a health educator for the Student Health and Wellness Center, said they have been putting up signs with safety tips on campus to educate students to be healthy not just at school, but on spring break too.
“Our main objective is to educate students and give them a heads up and say you’re going on spring break to have fun, but you have to remember to be safe,” she said.
Some signs around campus have informed students about drinking and driving, driving while drowsy, wearing sunscreen, dating responsibly, safe sex and date rape.
Kathy Teeter, staff assistant with the Wellness Center, said they are trying to educate students about safety before they go on Spring Break because the national average of incidents increases during Spring Break.
She said after studying so hard for midterms students “just want to let loose.”
Teeter said the Wellness Center encourages rested drivers and discourages driving between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. She also said that if students are going to be drinking, they should drink responsibly.
The Wellness Center has been providing condoms, chapstick and brochures to keep students informed.
Since good and bad things can happen in clubs, Teeter said, peer pressure can become an issue for students on spring break.
“They do things on spring break that they normally wouldn’t do,” Teeter said.
As for her Spring Break, she said she’ll be working.
Katey Stroud, a sophomore and volunteer at the wellness center majoring in social work, said a lot of students forget about safety because when they get in a different environment they forget about the major and the minor things.
“Utah’s so conservative that when they [students] go to a different place, they want to try something new and that’s when safety becomes an issue,” she said.
Saying “one drink is not going to hurt,” can be dangerous, Stroud said, especially when students don’t know their limits.
Alcohol isn’t the only thing they warn against.
Stroud said since spring break is usually the first outing out of Logan, it’s important to put on sunscreen because it’s the first time your skin is exposed to that much sunlight.
So, what are students planning to do for the break?
Kyle Jensen, a sophomore majoring in marketing, said he’s going to Los Angeles and Las Vegas with friends during Spring Break.
He said he’s going to “get drunk on the beach” and have a break from normal day life.
Ann Snell, a freshman majoring in art, said she’s going to go home to Payson in Utah County and do homework.
Whitney Smith, a freshman majoring in business said she’s “going home to Pocatello, the best place ever.”
She said while she’s there she’ll go shopping with her mom.
“There’s no place like home,” Smith said.
Adriana Hansen, a sophomore majoring in theater education, said she doesn’t know what she’s doing for Spring Break. She said since she’s from West Virginia, she’s definitely not going home. She said if all else fails, she’ll go down to her sister’s in Orem.
“I’m going to catch up on some much-needed sleep,” she said.
Rebekah Loss, a sophomore majoring in art, said she’s going to San Francisco through the Art Guild.
“I’ll be going to a bunch of art museums and I’m excited because I haven’t been to a real one before,” she said.
Robbie Welch, a freshman with an undeclared major said he’s going home to Alpine where he’ll hang out with friends and possibly go to Las Vegas.
Austin Loveless, a junior majoring in flight technology, said he’s going on a road-trip with his friends to Anaheim, Calif., for the basketball tournament. He said they might also make a stop in Las Vegas.
“Hopefully we’ll hit the beach,” he said.
Loveless also said he just wants to get away from the haze.
He said he was going to pilot a plane rented from the university but his friends didn’t want to pay the $220 per person. But he said he’d rather fly a plane for five hours instead of driving for 12 hours.
Jim Munford, a senior majoring in painting and drawing and art education, said he’s also going to San Francisco for Spring Break “because it’s cheap and sounds like fun.”
“It’s like when you’re a kid and they take away recess. Spring Break is the only thing left we have of recess,” he said.
-sarahwest@cc.usu.edu