This week, as college students around the country go on Spring Break, is the perfect time to reflect my final Spring Break as a college student. As everyone is well aware, our Spring Break falls before nearly every other university in the United States. Some people think that we have the worst timing for the break, but I think that it is really a blessing in disguise – just make sure you bring some friends to hang out with.
- Charles Paradis
Sure, we arrive before the season gets into full swing – before you can win “I got loco in Acapulco” and “S.B.G.F.’s rule!” t-shirts in drinking contests – but that means that you won’t have to compete with every other college lush for pool time, tanning time or the bartender’s attention.
Yet, I think what get lost in all of this is that there aren’t other knuckleheads from other colleges buzzing around your group of friends. I know some feel this is a huge negative, but I disagree and here’s why: We had a large group and nobody ever really strayed outside it – with the exception of our meeting a group of lovely athletic-looking ladies from Michigan (where else?) – yet everyone came back saying it was the time of their lives. This was obvious this past weekend.
I initially thought that my body could only stand the pass out at 6 a.m. get up at 11 a.m. routine if I was actually on Spring Break, as if my liver knows it only has to keep it up for a week, but this weekend disproved that theory. We were still in the same state of mind. What’s more is that we still enjoyed each other’s company. How was this possible? Every other trip that I’ve gone on like this has fostered at least little ill will, but this time we were already hanging out the day after we returned. Sometimes you don’t want to see people the next day during Spring Break, let alone the week after. Even the guys are hanging out with their Spring Break girlfriends.
I don’t really know what changed, but we all became so much closer on the trip. I’m not sure if it was because everyone exchanged “I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anyone” stories or because we shared everything from sunscreen and towels to saliva and refried beans. Personally, I would like to think that everyone bonded while dancing with the Devil, but I know it’s not true. (And to anyone thinking, “The Devil was soooo two years ago, I had more fun chilling with Sammy Hagar in Cabo,” I don’t care. I hope that years from now I will hear, “Sex, Drugs and House,” while sipping wine at a dinner party.)
Everything is accelerated during Spring Break. Hook-ups happen faster, your tolerance gets built faster and you find a tan (or for some of us, a burn) faster. In the same way, friendships are built faster. Over the course of the week we found out exactly why we all left just to spend another week in each other’s company. And not since two days after we came back has anyone pulled out the “Remember that time in Acapulco” story, which just shows how far everyone has come.
I guess the reason why we are still acting like we are on Spring Break is because most of us just don’t want to let go. For the seniors, we only have two months left and like our week in Acapulco, we want to suck every last bit of life out of it before we finally have to leave, kicking and screaming.
– Jeff Phillips would like to apologize for his sappiest column ever and would like to know if anyone has a cure for the Acapulco cough. He can be reached at jpphilli@umich.edu.