I’m starting to see ads for “spring break” sales, which is just about perfect timing, because I am on spring break! The thing is, I never really had a “typical” spring break experience. I guess I came close in middle school when my family road-tripped with my friend’s family down to Myrtle Beach. But in college, I mostly just enjoyed my time off. I went on a service-learning trip to New Mexico one year—it was great, but there was definitely no dancing, underage drinking, etc. And the truth is, even if the setting was different, I’m more Rory and Paris than Madeleine and Louise. Pizza and The Power of Myth sounds way better than staying out late dancing and drinking… or whatever it is people do on spring break.
Still, I like this part of the academic calendar. It’s an automatic vacation, even when I don’t do anything. And I’ve gotten pretty used to it—I’ve been in school more than out of it the last 15 years, and I still get two more years of spring break before I once more attempt to be part of the “real world.” Now, I never did that much for spring break before, as I’ve said, but I feel like my break has become increasingly less exciting now that I’m at a place in my life where sitting on the couch and watching a TV show might be the highlight of my day.
So I guess this is what a grown-up spring break looks like:
Monday: Report for Jury Duty. No, I’m not joking. I have a jury summons for the Monday of spring break. Partaaaaay! Also, start a weeklong writing challenge, because I have ALL THE TIME now.
Tuesday: Presumably show up at the courthouse again, though my husband got out of it after just one day. If I don’t have to go, maybe I will vacuum. It’s been a while. Maybe I’ll vacuum under the couch. It’s been… more than a while. I’ll probably forget about the writing challenge I started.
Wednesday: Find a dentist who’s on our insurance. Make dentist appointments. Intend to catch up on homework but actually read half of a fluff novel.
Thursday: If not seated on a jury, go on retreat to a monastery, because seminary. Think briefly about doing some homework.
Friday: Panic and try to write three papers in one day. Fail miserably. Wish for another week of break. Watch TV to feel better.
Does this sound familiar? Minus the jury duty and monastery, this is pretty much how I’ve been doing spring break ever year I was in school since I hit my twenties (i.e. 75% of the years), and I know I’m not the only one to do spring break this way. Does anyone actually have the spring break that Hollywood tells me is real? Please share your stories so I can live vicariously through you! (Or be comforted in the community of other spring breakers like me…)
Alissa Goudswaard Anderson (’10) lives with her husband Josh in New York City, where she is earning her Master of Divinity at General Theological Seminary. Alissa enjoys private kitchen dance parties, big Midwestern thunderstorms, and perusing other peoples’ bookshelves. For more, find her online at www.episcotheque.wordpress.com or tweet her @episcotheque.
