Last Monday, thousands of Jumbos found themselves struggling to remember their class schedules and to catch up on neglected work as classes restarted after the spring break. They have returned to campus from all over the globe, with their vacation destinations ranging from Paris, France, to Orange County, California and everywhere in between. The trips covered the gamut from the mundane to the exotic, so do the spring break plans really measure up?
Junior Anoop Swaminath was quite the traveler last week, journeying to Paris and London for his vacation. Swaminath chose to forgo the more typical choice of a tropical destination because he wanted the opportunity to visit friends who are studying abroad in the two cities. A first-time visitor to London, Swaminath found the city extremely entertaining and interesting for a college-aged visitor.
"There's a lot of stuff to do there... whatever age you are. You can go to museums, sports events, pubs," he said. "Whatever you want, it's there."
Though he easily found things he did want to see, Swaminath encountered two items that he could have done without. Upon returning to Medford, he reported that the London weather is no better than Boston weather. And Swaminath encountered some pretty high prices, though he said that students could easily see Europe for less money than he did (by spending nights with friends instead of in hotels, for example). Despite the trip's hefty price tag, Swaminath said the opportunity to see his friends and to explore two of the most magnificent cities in Europe was worthwhile. If you're looking for a spring break with a little less "sleaze," as Swaminath put it, a visit to friends on study-abroad programs might be the ticket.
But maybe you're one of those who want the sleaze. For that experience, freshman Sherry Zakhary recommends you try Cancun, as she and her friends did last week. "It's the craziest place in the world!" Zakhary said.
Zakhary and her friends chose Cancun for the same reason thousands of college students do every year. "We had heard that it was the center of all Spring Breaks so we decided to go to what we heard was the best place," she explained.
Zakhary spent her Spring Break relaxing and letting loose in Mexico. She recalls that she and her friends spent a lot of time sleeping and tanning on the beach, yet still found time to go clubbing practically every night.
But luxurious spring breaks like Cancun are expensive. Zakhary's spring break package was originally listed at $699, but the company she used found countless additional expenses and taxes to add on. As soon as Zakhary and her friends arrived in Cancun, for example, they were pressured to sign on for a club package that limited the places they would go to each night but provided them with no cover charge and free drinks. These add-ons, compounded with spending money for personal expenses, boosted the price of Zakhary's spring break up to approximately $1,400.
So was it worth it? According to Zakhary, the answer is a loud affirmative.
"It's an experience that you definitely cannot describe - you have to experience it. It was a great bonding experience that we will never forget. It's a freshman-year thing, too," Zakhary said.
For some students who sought tropical climates, Cancun seemed a bit too hectic. The seniors living in the Bayit, Tufts' Jewish culture house, opted to take a Royal Caribbean cruise for their last spring break before graduation. Seth Haaz, one of the seniors, noted that the low-key atmosphere of a cruise made the final spring break of his Tufts career a memorable one. "It's not quite the craziness of a normal spring break... If you're looking for 24/7 craziness, that's not a cruise. A cruise is more relaxing," Haaz said.
Haaz, the president of Hillel, and his friends unfortunately encountered some rainy weather in the Bahamas but overall made the most of their time in the Caribbean. One particularly enjoyable day consisted of snorkeling and jet skiing off the coast of the cruise line's private island. While the weather put a damper on some cruise activities, Haaz said the trip was worth the $720 per person (including air fare and ground transportation to the departure point in Florida).
"It was really great to take time away from the hectic life at Tufts and to spend a week with my close friends before we graduate," Haaz said.
Some students chose the less exotic as their Spring Break locale. Freshman Elizabeth Candee found her vacation paradise in her hometown of Chappaqua in New York's Westchester County. She decided to go home to see friends from high school that had the same week off, and because she hadn't seen her parents or house in two months.
While going home sounds like an opportunity to unwind and get lots of sleep, Candee found that the reverse was true: "It was fun but it wasn't relaxing. I still did a lot even though I was home. There was only one morning I didn't set my alarm because I had so much to do," Candee said.
And while some claim that spring break is better spent in the Caribbean, Candee is glad she went home. "I had a really great spring break. It was really nice to go home. I'll go away another time. I have three more years to go away," she said.
Best of all, her version of Spring Break didn't cost an arm and a leg. Candee's roundtrip plane ticket was $120 with a student coupon and she spent the same or less money entertaining herself at home. "It was a 'low-cost' spring break," she quipped.
Unlike Candee, sophomore Kay Odashima was unable to go to her home. That's because her family lives in France, an undeniably harder destination to reach. The complications of an international flight and the fact that Odashima couldn't spend the money to go away on a trip caused Odashima to spend her spring break right here on campus.
Though she was expecting a long, boring, week with plenty of time for work, Odashima discovered that Spring Break on campus can actually be a lot of fun. A class-free week provided Odashima with the opportunity to explore Boston with her international friends, who were also not able to go home. Odashima and a friend even spent a night in Cape Cod.
The closing of some student services provided a bit of a challenge for those who spent Spring Break at their home away from home. Odashima found herself spending about ten times more money than she spends in a usual week. She attributes the spending to the fact that she had to constantly eat in restaurants and that she felt inclined to splurge in her shopping because it was, after all, vacation.
In the end, Odashima had a surprisingly enjoyable and social spring break that she would recommend to students in similar circumstances. "If you're tight on money and need to save then it's not that bad," she said. "Even if you did have a lot of work to do you probably wouldn't get it done."
For some Tufts athletes, personal finances played no role in their Spring Break plans. Freshman Deana Davidian, a member of the Tufts softball team, spent her spring break in Orange County, California. Though her daily schedule was demanding - typically two softball games each day and a curfew of 11 p.m. - she said she had a wonderful time with the team.
"I felt like it was a great experience because I really got to bond with my teammates and have a lot of fun playing softball," she said.
Not only was it fun, it was luxurious. Davidian's accommodations, which she shared with five other girls, included two bedrooms, a living room, two baths, a full kitchen, and a fireplace. Her room and all of her meals were paid for by the team. The money was raised through extensive fundraising, which included running softball clinics, selling pretzels at football games, and selling t-shirts. So what was left for Davidian to pay for? Basically, nothing. Her spring break was by far the most economical, as she spent a total of $10 of her personal funds. Maybe more than any of her peers, Davidian got her money's worth.
