Much like New Year’s resolutions, plans for how to spend a break tend to be unfulfilled. The new recipes you were meaning to try, the new exercise routine you told yourself you were going to start, and all the creative activities you have been keeping for a block of free time are on the list of things to do before a break. However, by the end, you realize that you have done very little—if any—of these activities. Anticipation at the beginning of the break has evolved into disappointment and a longing for time to turn back.
In order to provide students a mental health break even without the normal week-long spring break, Andrews University has allotted several single days off throughout the semester. Some of the days fall on a Monday, giving us a three-day weekend, but others are on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, providing short island breaks within a sea of work. Whether we can truly make the most out of these short break days depends on our mindset, as some of us will likely use them to get ahead on assignments while others will try to enjoy a day free of academics.
Although there are many advantages to a long spring break, such as being able to go to a far away location or visit family (during a non-COVID era), there are some aspects of a single vacation day that may make it more desirable than a long break. One such characteristic is that a single day becomes so much more precious due to its limited time. Unlike a week of break, there is no second chance to spend a day just as you would want to spend it. This can be a strong motivation to actually attempt the recreational activities that have been pushed off for a better date.
At the same time, if you are not used to knowing how to spend that time in a fulfilling way, the very preciousness that drives one to maximize the day can lead to frustration. Despite all my intentions to be satisfied with the amount of water coloring I have done, how much of a book I have finished reading, or even how much of nothing in particular I was able to do, I am disappointed in how little I was able to do. It is even more devastating if I had nothing in particular planned and was instead wallowing in indecision about what to do.
Then I realized that what determines how well my day was spent is not the amount of things that were done, but the mindset I have. If I do nothing at all and stare out the window, I could still be satisfied with the day if I recognize that it is an important and useful way to help me relax. In fact, it is beneficial to intentionally do nothing, as it slows you down from the constant hustle of daily living. Rather than setting up standards for yourself to meet when no other external force is imposing them on you, it is completely acceptable to have no standards at all–at least for this one free day.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.