The Collegian
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Students and staff look toward spring break

In high school, the shrill sound of the school bell signaled the start of spring break - a break from work, friends, on-again off-again romances, teachers and those stress tests called midterms.

Things haven't really changed since then, and spring break is fast approaching.

Destinations, such as Florida, Maryland and Louisiana, have inspired students to venture away from campus this year.

"Whenever we're on a road trip - driving for however many hours - we always start in-depth conversations about the end of the world," said junior Adam Ferguson. "One of my friends thought computers were going to take over like in 'The Terminator.' [Another] thought we would die from depletion of our finite resources. And these [conversations] go on for the whole trip."

Ferguson and some of his Phi Gamma Delta brothers are taking a road trip this break with only a hazy vision of going to Florida. Last year they spent their time in Key West, on a beach that could have been an MTV beach set, Ferguson said. That trip included a hot strip of sand flooded with coolers, sound systems, tents and dancing people - "What people assume spring break should be," Ferguson said.

Freshman Keon Monroe will travel to visit his best friend at McDaniel College in Maryland. This break will be a relatively calm one for Monroe, who once traveled to Hergata, Egypt, and went night snorkeling in the Red Sea during a high-school spring-break trip. He said he would keep busy this year by partying, taking trips to Wal-Mart and filling out internship applications.

New Orleans is also a popular spring break option this semester. Twenty-five students are heading to the Big Easy on a relief trip that involves Common Ground, the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement and Our School at Blair Grocery, an organization that teaches kids about organic gardening and how to run a store. University of Richmond students will stay in the Lower 9th Ward, where there was significant damage after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They will also visit Tulane University and might work with New Orleans Emergency Medical Services.

These students will be working in the garden, interacting with the children and may work with contractors that are building in the area, said junior Ben Sommerfeld, executive officer of finances for the trip.

"We're really excited to meet some of the homeowners," Sommerfeld said, reminiscing about one man whose home Richmond students had painted during a previous trip. "One person withstood [Hurricane Katrina] with his 95-year-old mother and they congregated at his local church where they avoided the 5 feet of flooding at his home and stayed with other survivors. The Marines arrived after hearing church bells announcing Mass and removed all the survivors at gunpoint."

Because the communion wafers had already been blessed and therefore could not be left behind, the man and the priest of the church spent their time before the evacuation quickly eating all of the wafers.

Of course, not everyone will leave campus for the break and some will stay nearby.

Freshman Matthew Gizzi said he hoped to work at Ukrop's during the break. He's saving for a future play or concert, he said. Otherwise, he and his brother will hold jam sessions in the home they share with their parents in Richmond. Because of that, he said he didn't mind not doing anything more exciting.

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"I haven't really been anywhere interesting since I was old enough to do anything crazy," Gizzi said, laughing to himself.

Claiborne Carter, a production cook at the Heilman Dining Center, will be working most of the week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. to feed the faculty, staff and small number of students who will stay on campus. He said he was really looking forward to finally spending time with his daughters, Kelsey, 14, and Mackenzie, 12. The storms that submerged the campus in snow earlier this semester kept Carter here as an essential staff member.

"Kelsey's birthday is on March 15," Carter said, "so we're going to celebrate all three of our birthdays together. I'm really looking forward to that."

Freshman Jennifer Johnson is also staying in Virginia, and said she was excited to plan the next step for the abortion rights campus group called UR Body, UR Choice, which she recently founded.

"I'm planning meetings for the group," Johnson said. "We'll spread awareness about birth control, clinic violence and terrorism of care providers." Students continue to prepare for their spring break adventures and hope they'll be able to relax during break too.

Contact staff writer Jordan Trippeer at jordan.trippeer@richmond.edu

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