After weeks of schoolwork, papers, countless exams and blisteringly cold winter weather, Tufts students welcomed last week's break from the grind.
One could feel the buildup of excitement as students swapped plans to trade in their textbooks for night after night of partying or day after day of quality time with UV rays and tanning lotion.
While many students scattered to popular college spring break destinations such as Puerto Rico, Cancun or the Bahamas, some journeyed home - wherever home may be - for a more familiar brand of rest and relaxation.
Whatever students set out to do, however, the week without classes was both relished and well-spent.
Sophomore Michael Richardson spent his break not too far from Tufts, in Worcester, Massachusetts.
"I basically went to the movies and went out to eat a lot - just relaxed, really," he said.
Many of Richardson's classmates flocked to warmer climates; he still had to don a jacket when stepping outside. But this fact didn't undermine the sophomore's enjoyment of his time off.
"It was cold, but when you're inside a warm house watching rented movies, it's actually nice. I just turned on the fireplace and chilled," Richardson said.
For junior Cristina Calzadilla, home is a spring break destination. Born in Miami but raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Calzadilla spent most of her life at the popular vacation spot before coming to Tufts.
This past spring break, Calzadilla had not originally intended on returning home; instead, she planned to spend the first few days of break in New York City. But she ended up finding herself back in her hometown, along with countless other Tufts students ready for a good time.
"I showed them around to a lot of local spots - beaches, bars," said Calzadilla, who also took them to the island of Culebra, which is renowned for its beautiful beaches.
"There were so many Tufts students there. I was meeting people in lines - I'd literally be waiting for a bathroom at a bar and find out that the person in line next to me went to Tufts, too," Calzadilla said.
In her dual role as tour guide and spring breaker, Calzadilla not only partied alongside her friends, but also discovered things she never knew about her hometown.
"I never took a cab back in high school, but I learned how," she said. "A lot of things I did [during break] were things I didn't get to do growing up. But I was on spring break, too!"
That Calzadilla's home doubles as a resort destination only reminds her of how much the island means to her.
"I don't get homesick very often," she said, "but when people were telling me about how much they love Puerto Rico or how they want to buy a house there, it makes me appreciate it more."
Other students spent spring break far from the comforts of home or resorts. Furthering the tradition of the "alternative" spring break, sophomore Johana Oviedo headed to the Dominican Republic with 24 other Tufts students.
In conjunction with the Tufts Timmy Foundation, a community service group whose goal is to improve medical relief domestically and abroad, the students organized medical clinics in the villages surrounding Puerto Plata, an area predominantly populated by Haitian refugees.
Although not all of the students plan to pursue medicine after graduation, their combined efforts granted medical assistance to over 700 patients.
"We had incredible chemistry together. We're highly efficient and enthusiastic about what we were doing," Oviedo said. "Now that I'm back in the States and I look back at the pictures, I realize how lucky I am and how important it is that I go back and provide services to those who really need it and deserve it."
"This trip," she said, "convinced me even more that I should be a physician."
