It’s no surprise that students enjoy having breaks from schools. Whether it’s two months of summer vacation or an unplanned snow day, most students say they appreciate the time off to catch up on sleep, play video games, hang out with family and friends or just enjoy not having grades and assignments looming over them.
What may be surprising is the number of students who enjoy coming back from those breaks. Of the students interviewed, the majority said they liked returning from summer and winter break. And though they enjoy the time off, they look forward to coming back to the classroom.
Junior Xander Lawrence said that while he is sad when winter break ends, he is almost always excited to start the new semester.
“I look forward to the classes I enjoyed the previous semester,” Lawrence said. “Usually I am one to enjoy school and learning, as long as I know what to expect and if I like my teachers.”
Sophomores Mark Hill and Cate Dorsey also appreciate coming back in January. Both said they look forward to hanging out with friends.
“After having actual school taken away, I really realized how much I like seeing people and learning,” Dorsey said. “Seeing [my friends] at school is truly a highlight every time.”
Dorsey said that she prefers the return after summer break to the return after winter break. She said it’s more exciting, and there are more opportunities.
“It’s almost like how people see an actual new year, but for my academics,” she said. “I think it’s super exciting to get all of my new school supplies, set up new goals for things like studying and just overall get a fresh start.”
Lawrence, however, enjoys starting the second semester more.
“I am often not excited to go back to school after summer break,” he said. “I rarely know what to anticipate with the upcoming year with new teachers and classes, and I always feel that summer break is never long enough.”
Despite the general readiness to start school and reconnect with friends, students have mixed reactions to returning in January through remote learning.
Since 2021, students in District 7 have come back from winter break to a remote day—or in the case of this year, a remote week—every January. They have expressed a variety of reactions to it, with 20 percent of respondents saying they don’t like it at all, 20 percent saying they enjoy it and 60 percent saying they have mixed feelings about it.
“I have a love-hate relationship with E-learning days,” Dorsey said. “I like them for a day or two because I get some extra time in my day and the school work generally isn’t that much, but after a few days I get tired of it and want to go back to in-person.”
For some students, the reminder of the COVID-19 pandemic is a major drawback despite the benefits they may receive.
“I absolutely hate E-learning,” senior Tess Brandt said. “It gives off COVID vibes and I can’t learn over Zoom. Computers give me nothing for learning, just headaches.”
However, for other students, the “COVID vibes” aren’t enough to hinder their appreciation for sleeping longer, being more comfortable and having shorter or easier classes.
“I like it better as an E-learning day because I don’t have to wake up as early as I would if it was in-person,” junior Lily Halford said. “I [also] like that work has been online since COVID.”
Despite the mixed feelings about online learning, most respondents say they are looking forward to being in-person again next week.
“Whenever something like an E-learning day happens, I realize how grateful I am that it’s not permanent and that we will be able to see each other the next week,” Dorsey said.