Throughout the duration of the school year, we have thirty four days off of school, twenty one of which are devoted to my top three favorites: winter break, spring break, and Thanksgiving break (not in any specific order). When you really think about it, these breaks are peak because of where they are throughout the year.

First off, Thanksgiving break is not only a good break because one of the days is designated solely to eating (and being thankful I guess), but it has a very good placement on the calendar. We have five weeks beforehand where we only have one virtual day, which doesn’t really count as a break. When we get back from fall break in October, the first two to three weeks are fine. But the second we hit that three week mark, all everyone is trying to do is make it through until Thanksgiving break. It is always such a relief and so needed when we get there and I always soak it in. It’s almost like a preview to winter break because the weeks following thanksgiving are only about making it to Christmas and surviving finals season. Thanksgiving break also has some sort of nostalgia going along with it because it is something that we’ve had since elementary school. Unlike our week-long October and February breaks which we’ve only had for a couple years, Thanksgiving is something that will never change. I have traditions during Thanksgiving break that I have been doing for as long as I can remember and never fail to look forward to.

Second off, winter break is the longest break we have (not including summer break). It separates first and second semester which means we almost never have any work we have to worry about and it’s literally all about relaxing. To start off the break, I have three days before any festivities start which gives me enough time to do all of my in-person Christmas shopping, wrap all of my gifts, and help my mom with all of her wrapping. Then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are full of festivities and traditions I have with all of my family. After the craziness of Christmas is over, we have a solid five days that can be used to relax, hang out with friends, watch some more football for anyone who participates, and anything else that floats your boat. Then, we have New Years Eve which is always fun and New Years Day which is normally set aside to recover from all of the holidays that just happened and prepare for the year to come. And finally we still have four days to enjoy our new gifts, free time, and prepare for the new semester.

Last but not least, we have spring break. I always go to the beach for spring break and a lot of people go on trips with friends. It is overall just a break that is easy to look forward to as we close the school year. Similar to Thanksgiving break, the weeks to follow are mainly just trying to make it to summer and get through finals.

All of the breaks we have over the course of the school year are greatly appreciated and always needed, but these ones definitely take the cake over the rest (not including summer which is hand down the best).