Winter break: Gone too soon or glad it’s over?

Over winter break, I went home to lots of snow, home-cooked meals and my mom complaining that my younger step-siblings have too much time off over the holidays.

This got me thinking. So, I decided to do some research to see what others thought about the length of our breaks.

And now that Utah State University students are finally back on campus after the fall semester, I think it’s the perfect time to reflect on our feelings about our recovery time too.

Naturally, one of the first people I talked to about this was my mom. And without hesitation, she said winter breaks have been dragged out for no reason.

That opinion went along with an article I found from the Chicago Tribune, which was from a parents’ point of view and argued winter vacation gives students a false sense of reality.

“They need one week to recuperate from final exams, see friends, squeeze in doctor and dentist checkups. And then they need another week to observe the holidays, see relatives, maybe go on a family trip like we did this year,” said Eric Zorn, the author of the article. “Then they need to get back. Back to their campus friends and academic pursuits. Back to the simulation of real life that is college. Back to moving forward.”

Zorn explained even though he loves having the time to spend with his kids, the intermission is too long for them and isn’t a logical indicator of how life will be after college.

And, of course, we can’t ignore Meredith Willson’s argument: “Mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again” from “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”

However, not everyone agrees.

Jennifer Sarlo Canter, a parent of an out-of-state college student for four years, believes universities should allow more time for students traveling during the holidays.

“It’s extremely expensive and conditions can be treacherous,” she said. “Flights can be overcrowded or canceled. Students are usually forced to travel in a very tight window causing unnecessary burdens on them and their family.”

And according to USU student, Porter King, travel isn’t the only reason to have a break longer than three weeks.King said he feels like students have earned some rest to succeed in the following semester.

He also mentioned with winter break being a week longer last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, it gave him more quality time with family without feeling like he had to cram in all his personal responsibilities.

Even in Illinois, in an article written by a high school student for his school newspaper, Drey McGraw argued for an entire month of relaxation.

McGraw wrote, “The school year is 280 days long, which comes out to about 77% of the entire year. That is a lot of mental and physical strain on the students and staff. Is having one month off to recuperate and relax too much to ask for?”

After hearing both sides of the argument and recognizing the pros and cons to the long break outside of school, I wondered what consequences it could have for students once they’ve returned to class.

USU English professor, Jeremy Ricketts, said USU’s break specifically was the perfect length because, in his experience, it gives students a well-deserved breather and doesn’t affect their motivation or quality of work when they return.

“Students in my classes are always glad to be back. They are ready for a new semester to begin alongside a new year,” Ricketts said. “Winter break isn’t so long that it takes away from the academic momentum that students have built up over the course of the fall semester.”

Ricketts also said students should take advantage of the time they have to relax, to actually relax.

“Take a break if you need it,” he said. “Come in fresh and ready to tackle a new semester. Students work hard. Finals week can be stressful, and they deserve a chance to relax before four more months of hard, but rewarding, work begins again.”

After presenting these thoughts to my mom, she actually partially agreed, saying college students do work hard and deserve a rest, but her opinion changed depending on age.

She explained universities should give more days off, however, elementary, junior high and high schools should give fewer.

My mom currently has at least one child in each level of schooling and said the work those in college do, doesn’t even come close to the work and effort my fifth-grade step-brother does.

Because of this, she believes university students should be rewarded. However, the younger kids are the ones who seem to get the benefits.

Not only do pre-college schools get the long gap from school during Christmas, but they also have other holidays, weekly early-outs, occasional late starts, assemblies, teacher conferences and teacher prep days, which also takes away from time in the classroom.

“It seems like they are out of school more than they’re in school. It’s a joke. Way too long,” my mom said.

This conversation caused my curiosity to grow, so I decided to create a poll on my Instagram story which allowed all of my followers to vote on whether or not they thought their school gave them too much time off.

Out of 137 people who voted, which consisted of 60% college students, 35% high school students and 5% parents, only 4% said their break was too long and 96% said it was either just right or not long enough.

However, if winter break were extended to be even a week longer, it would take away time from our summer break.

Although these results didn’t completely surprise me, considering most students like having more time to chill and less time for responsibilities, I think some people would change their answers knowing it wouldn’t be consequence free.

But honestly, summer and winter break aren’t that different other than the time of year and how long it lasts.

Both are used for family time, vacations, possible internships, jobs, a chance to recover and they’re a transition space between semesters. However, it’s much easier to do those things when given more time.

With USU students having more than three weeks off, my step-siblings’ elementary school having two weeks off, and my friends’ university in New York giving more than six weeks off, it makes you wonder why each school is different and where the idea of a winter break even came from.

The obvious answer is because of the holidays and the natural transition time between semesters. However, according to an article on Slate, winter break started based on the agricultural cycle.

The article said thanks to stagflation and energy crisis in the Carter administration, colleges would base their academic calendars on the harvest season and would typically start the semester much later than August because of this and gave students a two-week break around Christmas.

In the 1970s as finances became a huge burden, schools realized if they shut their doors for a month or more during the winter, they could save money on heat because that was when oil costs were most expensive.

Now, universities may just have longer breaks to give students time for internships, study abroad programs, humanitarian trips or maybe it really is a reward for an entire semester of hard work.

So, if you’re all for the long breaks, you can thank our previous generations for starting the tradition. If you’re hoping for less time off, you can blame the Carter administration.

-Jacee.caldwell@usu.edu