Madelyn Rose ’22 was determined to have a fun fall break during her senior year. So, she traveled to Nashville, Tennessee with her friends. 

“I think once we heard that we would have a normal semester, and that we would have a full fall break, we were like, ‘okay, we should go, we should do something’ because we weren’t able to at all last year,” Rose said. “We missed out on so much last year that we wanted to make the most of this year.” 

Starting on Oct. 11, the St. Joe’s community took a week-long break from the semester, a break they were not able to have during the fall of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

This year’s fall break provided much needed relief from academic workloads, which was also a much needed break last year that students were not able to take, according to Rose. 

“I just remember feeling so drained,” Rose said. “I really have never felt that way before. I feel like I’ve always been good about managing my time, but I felt burnt out, and it was very stressful.”

Theresa Luu ’22, who also went to Nashville, said her experience was one to remember.

“We all wanted to go to Nashville when we were sitting in Policy and needed something to look forward to,” Luu said. “We decided on Nashville because a lot of people we knew went this summer and said it was so fun.”

Luu said this school year has been more lively and she feels less stressed after having the opportunity to travel. 

“It’s also nice to have a break after midterms and go home and debrief and come back ready for the second part of the semester,” Luu said. 

Other members of the community spent their break catching up with family. Thomas Smith, adjunct professor of environmental science, said he spent the break with family that he has not seen since before the pandemic began over a year and a half ago.

“Over fall break I was fortunate to stay very busy with plans and catch up with family at a cousin’s birthday that I haven’t seen since before the pandemic,” Smith wrote in an email to The Hawk. “I ran the Broad Street 10 Miler and then celebrated by going out for dinner with friends as a reward.” 

Marlea Shannon ’24 also spent time at home with her family to recharge during this semester. She says classes in person this year were an adjustment and she needed time off to rest. 

“My favorite thing that I did was go to Historic Smithville, which is by my house, and they have cute shops and bakeries,” Shannon said. 

Other students didn’t spend their break traveling or going home, but rather stayed on campus. Despite having to stay on campus for the men’s soccer season, Kenyatta Collins ’24 enjoyed being with his teammates. 

“In my eyes it feels great. I’d much rather have a fall break because it gives us athletes a chance to take a break from school and it serves as a stress reliever,” Collins said.