As the Brandeis community returns from their week-long break, this editorial board can’t help but wonder, was it worth it? The Carrie Bradshaw tone aside, having a break in the middle of February can be a bit more trouble than it’s worth. Sure, we get another week off in April so there is something to look forward to, but until then we are left with the longing for a little more time off and the excuses of our professors to give us more work. Yes, we are all adults, but that doesn’t mean our break is obligated to include study time, homework, and all the other obligations that don’t follow the randomly allotted Brandeis holiday schedule. Some of us still had to go to our jobs, take several hour long flights only to get a menial amount of time with our families before hopping on the return trip, and most of us were too burnt out to enjoy the break at all. Not to mention, a break in February means a cold, dreary, sunless vacation that makes the local student want to pull a Puxatauney Phil and retreat into our burrow.

This begs yet another rhetorical question that we will nonetheless attempt to answer: what is the point of a school break? Obviously, we are not against school breaks, but if it’s just a random week in the middle of the month, is it really serving its purpose? Especially after getting back to campus in January, February feels like the time when our routines finally solidify and we start to feel like we have things under control (ignoring the looming threat of Valentine’s Day of course). However, just as you start to feel that stability break comes in like a wolf in sheep’s clothing – an unwarranted and unsatisfying reset in the shape of a reward. Before you question the validity of this statement, think about your experience this past week. Maybe you felt energized at the start, but quickly saw yourself fade, unlike you had before the break. Maybe you got in your applicable mode of transportation and realized you dreaded returning to school. Or maybe, and most likely, you left all your work till the Sunday before and dreaded it throughout your break as you engaged in the time-honored vacation practice of procrastination, and felt all of the above (without the energy burst). 

Now, before some of you object to this criticism with the ole “Well, Brandeis has to follow the Jewish calendar which is why we have this break to accommodate for Passover in April,” let me remind you that…are you sitting down? Passover…is in April. That’s right, if we wanted to accommodate for Passover, we could just have a two week break in April. Two weeks is a lot more than one week, double even. Think of all the time you could spend with family and friends, all the places you could go, and the procrastination that might just wear off before you have to go back because you can try to give yourself a one week work free time (honestly those of you with bad procrastination might not be helped by this two-week break but we can’t fix everyone’s problems). It’s just an idea…but it might be a good one to stop of from experiencing this lag and depression that comes from the end of a short and unsatisfying break…or maybe not, after all we come back to the same Brandeis…if you didn’t like it before, you won’t like it when you get back. But hey, you still have your New Year’s resolutions to do, right? Maybe you’ll change things?! There’s always the next break…