It is that time of year again, fall break, the (pretty much, kind of, sort of) midpoint of the fall semester. For some, that brings enthusiasm and excitement at the progress made, and for others, it brings the dread of midterms and finals to come. the marking that the fall semester is half over.
Unlike the summer, winter, Thanksgiving, and spring breaks, fall break is awkwardly short, preventing most students from going back to work or traveling. Some students have expressed interest in the combination of fall break and Thanksgiving break, creating a week-long vacation the week of Turkey Day.
There are pros and cons to this idea. Practically, it makes sense academically. Students with classes (specifically night classes that only meet once a week) would miss an equal amount of work for all classes; as of right now, night classes on Mondays have so many weeks without class, causing some professors to disallow any ability to miss a class at all.
As far as negatives go, to put it simply, that creates a long few months in between breaks for students, staff and faculty alike. August to November is a long while to wait for a reprieve from classes, save for Slippery Rock’s very occasional and much-celebrated snow days.
Of course, for students (and, we suspect, a few members of faculty), most would love both the two extra days off for fall break in addition to a full week off for Thanksgiving, but being realistic, The Rocket staff believes fall break is perfectly situated where it is, though perhaps it would be a bit more appreciated the week after midterms.
So while some of our out-of-state students don’t have much time to visit home, fall break is a time to catch up on sleep, cram for midterms, and take a breath in the middle of a semester.
