This year's "fall break"

In a few days, students will be heading home for what is formally known as fall break. For many, this will be the first time going home since the start of the semester, and for freshmen, seeing their families since they moved in back in August. It’s a lot of excitement—pets, home-cooked meals, and sleeping in your bed at home (because let’s be real, your dorm bed will never compare).

And yet, all of this excitement is only for a three-day weekend. Yes, while the school tries to make it seem like we have a break, it is really just one extra day off. My freshman and sophomore year it was two days off, adding Tuesday as well as Monday, giving students four nights in their beds at home. And, if you were lucky enough to not have classes on Friday, or had classes late on Wednesday, one could go home Thursday and come back Wednesday, making the break almost a week. However, if you have class on Friday, you literally get to go home Friday afternoon, to return Monday evening assuming you have early Tuesday class.

If someone lives more than a couple hours away, it’s pointless to go home, thus making the break really only for students who live in the tri-state area. Otherwise, you might as well stay on campus.

However, if all this wasn’t bad enough, this year is even more confusing and strange than the past. Because fall break is end-of-classes Friday through start of classes Tuesday, and then the school closes at sundown Tuesday with the arrival of Yom Kippur, not opening again until sundown Wednesday night. Whether or not a student celebrates the holiday, I’d assume that many would like to spend as much time home as possible, but no one is going to go home Friday-Monday to only go back Tuesday evening. As a student who celebrates Yom Kippur, I want to be home for the holiday. While some professors appear to be cancelling classes that Tuesday, not all are, so then it becomes a decision for each student whether it is worth it to be home to miss whatever classes you have that day. Based on conversations I have had with many of my classmates, many are choosing the “bad student” option and staying home through the holiday, and honestly can you blame them? For many Jewish students, being home for Yom Kippur is more important than being home for the weekend, so if they were to try to make Tuesday classes many would probably stay through fall break and just go home for the holiday. The situation is a very difficult one, and you either miss out on the holiday, miss out on a weekend at home, or miss out on class; there is no win-win situation.

I’ve always enjoyed fall break because it’s a perfect spot in the semester to go home and catch your breath, but that’s coming from someone who either got that Tuesday off or had off Friday, so was able to go home Thursday. In reality, it is just a long weekend, and with the addition of Yom Kippur being immediately after this year, students will either extend their breaks or pick and choose when to go home.

In my opinion, it puts both students and faculty in a difficult position. Hopefully the number of students missing class this Tuesday will be considered when planning future “fall breaks.”