Break should be an actual break

Every year, students get excited for spring break because it means that they finally get time off. However, that excitement soon turns to dismay when their professors start creating a pile of homework that is expected to be done over spring break. Now, students’ hopes and dreams have been crushed as they now see their break being spent doing nothing but homework. 

This is an all-too-common scenario and my question is this: what’s the point of spring break if students don’t actually get a break? The point of spring break is to be able to actually take a break, but if professors are going to just assign vast amounts of homework for the break, then you can’t really take time off at all. While we don’t have to physically attend classes, it doesn’t mean that we are actually getting a break.

Assigning homework over spring break should be completely outlawed. Let students actually have their week-long break that is deserved and promised to them. Most professors don’t have to work over spring break if they don’t want to, so why are the students expected to? In fact, by not having homework assigned over break can actually reduce the amount of work professors would have because they would have less to grade. They could actually enjoy their break too.

I always wonder what the point of assigning homework over spring break is. Why couldn’t professors assign the assignments after spring break? If it’s because of time, then maybe they should really reconsider which assignments are actually important to the course. If they feel that the assignments are important to the course, then there has got to be a way to place the assignments either before or after spring break.

Some students actually use spring break as a time to catch up on their work if they are behind or get a jump start on studying for the next exam. By assigning extra homework over the break, you are stripping students of their right to choose how they spend their break. You’re putting students in a position to have to choose between catching up and falling further behind or completing their spring break assignment but still being behind on the rest.

Some people may say that students having this dilemma is their own fault as they shouldn’t have fallen behind in the first place, but that is just not how reality works. Things happen in life, especially to college students that can cause them to fall behind. That is why it is nice to have spring break completely available as a way for students to catch up.

Ultimately, my policy for spring break is to not do homework over it. Spring break is my time to rest and I don’t let any professor take that right away from me. Sometimes, it has meant that I have to pull an all nighter the week after spring break. I value my break time because we get only a few in the spring semester compared to the fall semester. 

I also tend to spend my spring break visiting my family and that is more important than my schoolwork. The last thing I want to do is give up valuable family time to spend all day on my computer to work on homework. 

There are even study abroad programs here at NDSU that take place over spring break. Well, if students get a mountain or even a hill of homework, how are they supposed to juggle their study abroad program with their other classes? When I did my study abroad program over spring break, there was not a single minute of extra time available to me to even do homework for other courses. Study abroad courses are also credited classes. They typically are worth more credits than most courses even.

Giving students much needed time to rest can also increase their motivation when coming back from break. Oftentimes, especially near midterms and finals, students are feeling very overworked and exhausted. This can cause them to have a lack of motivation. Well, these feelings can be alleviated by just getting a break. Spring break is mentally and emotionally healthy for students.

If a universal rule of no homework over spring break was enacted across NDSU, students could actually enjoy their break like they are supposed to. This would also give students autonomy over how they spend their spring break. If professors just keep assigning homework over spring break, then there really isn’t a point in having a spring break at all.