As the semester draws to a close and our spring break tans begin to wear off, Easter weekend provides students with one more relief before the onset of finals panic: one day off for Good Friday. This weekend presents a dilemma for some students, questioning whether to go home for the holiday, stick around campus to work on the 40-plus pages of papers due in the next two weeks or spend those few nights celebrating the last “free weekend” of the semester. So how does one balance fun, family and finals over Easter?
Whether you celebrate Easter as a religious holiday or as a time to consume a ridiculous amount of Peeps and Reese’s eggs, the weekend usually revolves around family. Every year, my family would attend church then share brunch afterward at a nice hotel. I remember getting excited weeks before Easter Sunday, not for the Easter Bunny’s visit, but for the extra-large dessert table laden with countless cakes and sweets just waiting to be devoured. But my decision to attend Wake, a 2-hour plane ride and 13-hour car ride away from Chicago, made going home for a weekend impossible.
So what’s a collegiette™ to do? Find a way to get off campus for a weekend of peace before the craziness starts. My suggestion for you is to get away from the hustle and bustle of Wake this weekend. Last year, I was lucky enough to be invited to a friend’s lake house to spend a wonderful long weekend with her family. But even if you don’t get an invite, try to arrange a road to see some of your non-Wake friends. Or do a few day-trips to neighboring cities with some classmates who also can’t make the journey back home for the holiday. With all the stress that “Work Forest” likes to place on us, a change of scenery does a body good.
If your only option is to stay on campus over Easter weekend, grab a friend or two and have a night out on the town. You and your pals can catch one of the many movies that debut this weekend, including the highly-anticipated Robert Pattinson/Reese Witherspoon drama Water for Elephants. But if you’re in the mood for something a little more comical, check out the animated flick Rio. Sick of Pit food (come on, we all are)? Dine downtown at perennial favorites, or go a little more low-key at Mello Mushroom or The Loop.
So even though your head is filled with thesis statements and calculus equations, step away from the work for a day (or two) and enjoy the warm weather. If you’re with family, appreciate that time together and remember all the juicy details about Uncle Steve’s drunken escapade or Grandma’s vulgar story to share with your friends later when you get back to campus. Remember to have fun this weekend . . . and to eat your weight in Easter candy!