The highs and lows of winter break

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Akbar Reid

Staff Writer

Winter break gave students time to relax, mentally rejuvenate, enjoy the holidays and work, yet some students anticipated the start of school.

Haley Grimes, an entrepreneurship student, used her break for vacation.

“I went on vacation… to Vancouver, Canada, and went snowboarding which was pretty fun,” she said. “I [also] worked quite a bit, [had] family time [and] got stuff organized around my house.”

After a busy break, Grimes was happy to get back into classes.

“I was really ready to come back to school,” she said. “I enjoy the routine of being in class… knowing that I always have something to do here, and [that] I’m always going to have a productive day rather than not.”

Ganiat Giwa, biological sciences major, also traveled outside of the country during the break.

“My family and I took a trip to Gambia,” Giwa said. “It’s a country four hours from Nigeria [and] it’s very small,” she said. “We also had a day trip to Senegal.”

“It was like some kind of African exploration for me, really warm and [it] was just nice to spend the holidays with my family,” Giwa said. “It was very relaxing.”

Giwa, similarly, was ready to return to school following the break. “[I] just feel much more ready to go back to school, de-stressed and re-energized,” she said.

Other students enjoyed travelling within the country over break.

Shahida Khwaja, cybersecurity major, spent her break on a road trip to Florida.

“I went to Florida for a week, [to] Orlando,” she said. “It was really cool because we went to amusement parks and beaches.”

Khwaja especially took notice of the climate difference from New York.

“The weather was amazing,” she said. “When we were there it was just so nice.”

She and her family enjoyed their trip to Florida so much they decided to move there. “I’m moving this summer because we really really loved it,” she said.

Wally Mogorsmith, fine arts major, is another student who used their break for a trip within the country.

“I stayed at my cousin’s house [in Rochester] for like the entire winter break [and] we hung out a lot,” he said. “I brought my entire PC with me, we went to the mall a lot, it was just really awesome.” He also used his free time to tour around the Rochester Institute of Technology campus.

Tyler Cornaire, advanced manufacturing major, and Shadez Carera-Jordan, criminal justice major, spent the majority of their breaks working.

“I was working a lot most of the time,” Carera-Jordan said. “It was a nice break, [but] I did get bored a little bit.”

Whether spent at home, at work or in another country, students are back in school and looking forward to the next big break: summer.