Spring Break Plans

Avery Lavine/The Exonian

By: Minseo Kim, William Lu, Aria Scannell, Clark Wu

When the clock struck 9:00 p.m. on the last Wednesday night of the winter term, a long-awaited spring break finally began. 

The Student Council’s Recreation Committee announced signups for a dodgeball tournament in the Thompson Field House in a schoolwide email on Thursday evening. “Teams of at most 8 will face off to be crowned dodgeball champions,” the Recreation Committee Heads wrote. “Winners will receive Dunkin treats and will get a shoutout on Exeter’s social media. But most importantly, they will have the satisfaction of dominating their opponents.” 

The Recreation Committee also noted that COVID guidelines will be enforced.

Senior and Recreation Committee co-head Cooper Walshe shared the difficulties surrounding event planning this term. “A lot of the time, we think we have a fun idea but it gets shot down for associated risks,” he said. Additionally, he mentioned planning an all-school spikeball tournament. “Maybe it’ll happen, maybe not.”

Upper Representative Shalom Headly added that class representatives are working hard to make student life more interesting. “We’re in the process of organizing. Outdoor events will be much more available to students and hopefully offer much more freedom and flexibility and fun,” he said. “Of course, we’re taking into account the remote and international student experience. We’ll continue to advocate for online and asynchronous events.”

Some dorms shared plans to collaborate on events and games over the break. “We’re excited about our Zumba event with Hoyt and Will House on the Sunday evening of break,” English Instructor and Langdell Hall Dorm Head Patricia Burke-Hickey said. “Ms. Tazawa, who I understand is the Zumba Queen, will be leading the festivities. Zumba has been an annual Langdell tradition for years. We'll follow that with another one of our favorite activities: floor parties. These always include favorite foods (healthy and not-so-healthy) and good conversation.”

Students expressed eagerness to participate in Academy activities, but some felt uninformed about the upcoming events. “I don't think the Academy has made it very clear as to what their plans are,” prep Sophia Zhu said. “I'm sure they're also still working on it too, but as a day student I think not a lot of information has been given to us. Boarders may have proctors to pass on the info, but I can be very out of the loop.”

Others felt that the break had been cut too short. “I’d go to a sleep marathon if the school hosts one, but our break is practically half its usual length,” upper Alex Larrow said. “That’s a big no for me.”

Zhu agreed. “These weeks have been so stressful, physically and mentally exhausting. It’s like we pass out every single night from the exhaustion. Five days just isn’t enough for us to recharge,” she said.

Lower Priya Nwakanma shared her expectations for school activities. “The fact that nothing’s really open, we can’t go to town, there’s nothing new we can do that we couldn't have done over the weekend, so hopefully the school’s planning good activities,” she said. “I wish they could’ve split up the [winter term break and spring break times], because even though there’s not much to do over this break, I feel like the point of a break between terms is to reset and to prepare and I don’t know how we’ll be able to do that with five days, two of them being the weekend.”

Other students appreciated the Academy’s design of the break. “This year hasn’t been normal. Maybe we’re settling into a new normal, but it’s not normal. I know this sounds cliche but that’s the reality we’re living in,” Headly said. “Let’s respect the choices that the teachers made. They had our best interests in mind.”

“Of course, I’d like more time off, but I don’t think there’s enough time in the school year,” Upper Representative Allison Kim said. “As long as we get enough one-day breaks during the term, I’m okay with the five-day break.”

“I personally think it’s enough, although I don’t think it’s necessary enough in terms of rehabilitation,” prep Jane Park said. “I know the spring breaks at my old school used to be two days so it feels like a luxury to have five days off, but given the extreme amount of workload that Exeter has and the stress that everyone’s probably under, I don’t think five days is enough when talking on behalf of the majority of people.”

Many students shared their plans for de-stressing and preparing for spring term over the break. “I’ll probably spend most of my time sitting in bed, baking something, a cake maybe. I want to cherish the feeling of not having three physics tests to take,” Zhu said.

“I'm going to be playing Cilley Ball (C-Ball), spike ball, ultimate frisbee, and just taking advantage of the warmer weather,” Walshe said.

“I’m planning on deep-cleaning my room and studying for the SAT,” Kim said.

“I’m going to do some reading,” Nwakanma said. “I picked up some books at the OMA library and I have a big reading list, because I don’t read during the school year, I read during weekends and breaks.”

Park spoke on the importance of maintaining mental health over break. “I hope people will make time for themselves in terms of self-care, and not use the five days to study for a math or biology test but rather use that time to take care of themselves and make sure they aren’t burning out or overworked,” Park said.

Senior Oliver Hess shared great hopes for the upcoming spring term. “We should really take advantage of these five days. It’s the perfect amount of time. We can do it! I have faith that spring break will feel much better than the winter,” he said.