I don’t presume to speak for the student body of Gannon University, but I feel fairly confident that just about everyone on campus is feeling the same way I am. I am in serious need of a break.
Between the steadily increasing workload of midsemester, the change in the weather meaning that there is less sunlight and the almost daily COVID-19 scares that seem to be popping up around campus, there is nothing that I need more than a break. And not a three-day weekend. I need a break that is of the length that I have grown accustomed to in my four years here at Gannon.
There is something special about the time we get off midsemester that allows for both the students and the professors at this school take a deep breath and recharge our batteries. I don’t know about any of you, but I have been running on empty for the past couple of weeks, and the fun and comradery that used to accompany the weekends has lost its fervor. I have joked in both the paper and in person that if I am not spending my time studying, I am most likely anxious that I am not studying.
While that is just a joke on the surface, there is certainly more than a grain of truth to it. Without the siren’s song of fall break calling me to just push on a little bit longer, the semester seems almost endless. There have been two distinct times this semester when I can remember feeling completely relaxed. The first was a couple weeks ago, when that feeling, while nice, was a fleeting one, as I only felt that way due to my own ignorance of future assignments and exams that were quickly coming due.
The second was just this past weekend, and this time I worked out everything that could possibly ruin my mood days in advance, and it worked. This was the best weekend I have had in a long time.
All of this has taught me a lot about myself, and it has shown me just how much about life before the “new normal” that I took for granted. I read once that happiness is less a state of being and more of a “happy chemical” pat on the back for completing hard work. In the pre-COVID-19 world, these rewards seemed to come more regularly, but with less intensity. While they may be few and far between these days, one thing is for certain. I don’t think I have ever been as relaxed in all my time here at Gannon than I was Friday, and if I have to endure another grueling couple of weeks to get that dopamine boost again, it’ll be well worth it.
A fall break would still be nice too, though.

BENJAMIN HAYLETT

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