Fall break never seems to be long enough. From freshman year to senior year it’s the same story.
You’ve got five free days to recoup and recover from the first few weeks of college.
When I was a freshman I took an adventure to New York City for the first time. It was overwhelmingly beautiful.
The natives are interesting-looking with their high-fashion way of life and totally uninterested in talking to you, unless you’re in their way.
Which I often was, as my head was pointed way, way up to the sky to check out the skyscrapers — something they definitely don’t have in Indiana, Pa.
When I was a sophomore, I spent those five days in a strange little town in Virginia where there was a ban on anything not “local.”
Consequently it was a very refreshing, organic experience.
Without a Wal-Mart for miles, there were plenty of small shops to peruse, cool cafés, and astonishing restaurants. No chains, no brands, just localization.
The real attraction to the town was that it was home to the American Shakespeare Company.
Not only did I have an amazing experience and hike the beautiful mountains of Virginia, but I also got an A plus Shakespeare immersion four times over.
Last year I traveled nowhere and spent my fall break right here at Gannon. However, I was definitely not bored or cooped up studying.
It was actually the culmination of a class I had been taking that semester, Event Planning.
We had worked out all of the details as a class to put together one fantastic conference.
It was the Pennsylvania Communication Association Conference which may sound boring to you, but as a communications student, it’s kind of my thing. I got to meet professionals, talk about their key experiences and learn so much more than a class could teach me.
This fall break, I decided to spice it up. I went home. It may have been the most enriching fall break of them all.
I didn’t get to travel to a new place in the U.S. and I didn’t network with professionals in my field. Instead, I got to go home and surprise my sister by wishing her a happy birthday and follow up with a completely awesome birthday present, of course.
I got to spend time with my brother when he suddenly came down with a case of the I-don’t-want-to-go-to-school-today flu that amazingly shows no symptoms except for a propensity to not want to get out of bed.
I got to listen to what a great trumpet player he’s going to be once he starts practicing some more and we concluded the day of hooky with a trip to the apple orchard with the tastiest apples.
After all, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
While I didn’t go on a trip or make new connections or even study as much as I probably should have, I got just what I needed.
Going home and spending time with my family was just the recuperation and recovery that I needed from a stressful semester.
Oh, and sleeping in until noon didn’t hurt either.
BRIANNA WOODS
