The SU men’s basketball team may have had a great week, but for the rest of us, midterms meant days of sleep deprivation and stress. I labored over a project, only to decide at midnight before it was due that I had to redo it all before 8 a.m. I wrote more papers this week than all of last semester. My self-medication included endless large coffees and a heavy dose of reminding myself Spring Break is only a week away.

According to the U.S. Department of State more than 3 million U.S. citizens travel to Cancun and other Mexican beach resorts each year, with 120,000 of those just for spring break. Travelocity reported Orlando as the most booked spring break destination for 2010, with party cities like Las Vegas and Cancun also making the top 10.

The average cost for a spring break trip for two to Cancun, including airfare and accommodations, is $2,243, according to a CBS News article. With similar fees in other cities, it’s hard to fathom the amount of money students spend to travel for a week in the sun.

‘I feel like not as many people go away for spring break as everyone imagines,’ said Terri-Ann Malgieri, a communication and rhetorical studies junior about to spend seven days in Texas.

Five students were sitting next to me when she said this. Their destinations: Aruba, New York, Las Vegas, Madrid and Florida. If all the kids sipping on 85-cent coffee in People’s Place have travel plans, I’m thinking most of the SU student body does as well.

The greatest spring break I ever took was April 1998 when my family went to Disney World. All through my college career, as I watched people fly away to foreign cities and sandy beaches, I told myself I’d be redeemed for spending break waiting tables and visiting with Grandma when senior year came around.

For years I bided my time paying dues to the favor bank in hopes of a big payout mid-March 2010. I would remind my parents of the years I endured working while others partied. I’d rattle off statistics about seasonal depression and the negative health effects years of sunless winters were causing me. I’d be rewarded with an all-inclusive cruise, a flight to Cancun, a fruity drink with an umbrella and a beachfront cabana.

But after spending a semester abroad traveling through Europe, my parents aren’t even open to the idea of me borrowing the car for a south-bound road trip. My bank statements could bring me to tears. With my final spring break just days away, my big plans consist of little more than writing a 20-page thesis paper and sending networking notes to alumni. My hometown is buried under 22 inches of snow, my little brother claimed possession of my car and my mother’s found a new favorite pastime of seeing how many times per day she can inquire about my future employment situation (current record: 17). With any luck, maybe TLC will have a marathon of ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ episodes and my brother will drive me to the tanning salon. If you’re waiting until senior year to have a fabulous spring break, I think you’d better book it now.

Courtney Egelston is a senior magazine journalism and political science major. Her column appears weekly, and she can be reached at cbegelst@syr.edu.

Published on March 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm