Return of Spring Break Has Positive Impact on Student Mental Health

Due to the pandemic, in-person interaction at Maryville College over the past couple years was very limited, and spring break was canceled. With COVID-19 cases declining in recent weeks, on March 14 through 18, Maryville College students were finally able to enjoy a week of break.

Ideally, spring break was a time for students to de-stress and decompress before finals week. Students were highly encouraged to be “selfish,” and to take advantage of this time to solely focus on themselves. 

Why was spring break beneficial to students? The objective of spring break was to help students maintain a healthy mindset after midterms and before finals examination. As the semester progresses, many students experience burnout. Therefore, spring break was implemented during the school year to aid students during the semester when the year is coming to an end. 

Spring break was enforced to create even the tiniest difference in a a student’s personal and academic life. It is believed that spring break is highly beneficial for students, especially college age young adults. In a demanding academic environment, college students tend to prioritize other things before they address their mental health issues. 

We know that to maintain a healthy lifestyle or healthy habits we must consider prioritizing mental health. When a student’s mental health is stable, other areas of their lives will also become healthy. 

We can imagine our bodies as assembly lines. When an area of our bodies is lacking in health, other parts of our bodies won’t be able to function properly. This results in the decline of an individual’s ability to function to their fullest potential. 

Mental stability is the key to maintaining a well-oiled and healthy functioning body. Students are constantly using their minds in everyday tasks. It makes sense that if an individual lacks stability, then it could result in their physical health becoming detrimental. 

In an article entitled, “Why is Spring Break Important?,” clinical psychologist Dr. Michael Messina emphasizes that traveling is wonderful for the mind, body, and soul. “It allows us to have new and exciting experiences and to break out of the often-mundane day-to-day norm,” she states. This is entirely correct. Although an individual doesn’t necessarily have to travel to far destinations to experience a push of serotonin, she recommends doing things an individual wouldn’t normally do. 

While everyone has different sets of responsibilities, spring break was a well-deserved and reserved time for adventures that we normally wouldn’t have time or be allowed to participate in during such hectic times in the semester. Spring break allowed students time to fully pause and reflect on their academics, contemplating if they were where they intended to be. This helped student productivity and success for the final days of this semester.