In case you guys missed it, I’m here to talk about the bombshell that Temple just dropped on all us in reference to spring semester. The massive change spring break has officially been cancelled by Temple University. For Spring 2021 Temple University plans to have all undergraduates and graduate students return from our winter break 8 days after our usual return meaning we will be returning January 19, 2021 instead of the 11th.
Are there some benefits being offered? Yes. Temple is planning to offer a short duration of winter courses for students that would like to speed up some credits as well this increases our winter break by an additional week. But, not having a spring break? I am completely aware of the concerns of traveling due to Covid-19, but people are already traveling now because it is easy to carry your computer with you since we have online classes and can be anywhere in the world. So my question to you all is, do you really believe that Temple University should have canceled spring break? I believe that right now is already a hard time for all of us with Covid, the presidential election coming up, trying to truly get used to zoom university, and literally watching our world fall apart as we know it. The events of 2020 alone can be catastrophic to many of us. A lot of people are struggling with their mental and physical health due to these events on top of an increased workload due to being online.
Temple University is in the heart of North Philadelphia. With that being said, whether we realize it or not, spring break is almost traditional at this point. It is something that we wait for every spring semester. Something that we look forward to usually plan months in advance, our chance to just escape for a week and enjoy ourselves with friends and family and I truly don’t know how to feel with it being revoked. This past week alone has created a lot of stress for students as well as us waiting for this election to be over.
With us not knowing when this pandemic will end or how our future will play out, is it truly in the students best interest to not have a spring break? On top of everything happening now, we are already having to deal with a more severe workload, or at least it feels that way for many students. In addition, a lot of students are upset that their teachers are not even speaking on everything happening right now. So, I think I speak for a majority of students when I say we do not want our spring break taken from us.
I honestly believe that revoking spring break may have a more negative effect than positive. I understand the extension so people can go home for the holidays and then quarantine for safety. Does this then mean Temple is planning for an in person semester? I would love to hear from some of you and how this announcement has made you feel. Would you like to just have an extension on winter break and forget about spring break? Or do you believe that we should still be allowed to have a spring break?