Each week our columnists debate both sides of an issue on campus. This week they take on the merits of Winter Break vs. Spring Break.

Spring Break, don’t flatter yourself. Winter Break offers a much more relaxing, satisfying and- dare I say it- life-altering experience.

In that measly week of March, you’ve hardly sat down with the remote to settle into nothingness mode when you need to pack up and go back. In a month, you have at least two glorious weeks of doing nothing but what you want/need to do.

For an entire month, you’re away from the stress of school with zero assignments, zero finals and zero books that you’re forced to read for fear of punishment of death. The only school-related stress stems from the obsessive-compulsive checking of final grades on MySlice.

For an entire month, you have the time to research those pesky summer internships – or ignore them some more and spend hours watching ‘Dawson’s Creek,’ ‘Room Raiders’ or ‘I Love the ’90s: Strikes Back!’ while flipping back and forth to CNN.

For an entire month, you can eat your Mom’s signature dish, eat at your favorite late-night Tortilla Sam’s (cough) and eat your favorite snacks that your family had waiting for you when you arrived – since they’ve forgotten your annoying habits and only remember your sparkling personality and that you LOVE organic peanut butter.

For an entire month, you can hang out with friends you haven’t seen since summer, and they’re home all at once. Sure, they talk non-stop about their roommates, they’ve suddenly turned socialist and want to drop out and take a stab at Hollywood. But only those friends truly appreciate your 5th grade nickname, understand your family and love tooling around town at 2 a.m. in search of something cheap/open/illegal.

For an entire month, you’re spared from Syracuse weather, and you have plenty of time to stock up on sleeping bag coats, gloves, hats and scarves. And, readers, no more walking. You have an entire month to drive your car again (or beg Mom to borrow hers) whenever and wherever, or take the oh-so-convenient subway. Yay for salt-stainless pants.

You also have plenty of opportunity to play duck and hide when you’re at Target and you see that ridiculously annoying person whose locker was next to you in high school, or the ex that you’re totally embarrassed you ever made out with. It’s a fun game.

During Winter Break, something huge always happens, one of life’s great surprises. Your great-aunt dies, your older brother elopes with his Mandolin instructor or you finally hook up with that crush from high school – or in sheer desperation, with the ex. Whatever the life-altering surprise, the giddiness in thinking about it-What? Where? When?-gives Winter Break the extra kick.

Let’s skip the next nine months. We could all use a Winter Break right now.

JEAN STEVENS IS A MAGAZINE JOURNALISM, WOMEN’S STUDIES AND POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJOR. E-MAIL HER AT JMSTEV03@SYR.EDU

Published on March 2, 2005 at 12:00 pm