If you’re checking your emails right now, you’re probably sitting in Olin, close to the finish line of completing the homework and test prep that your professors assigned before Spring Break. It is a large heap of work; since it could not be due over break, it is now all due at once. You managed to only glance at it once or twice over the break. Now your work stares you down as you reflect on the past week you spent on the beach hanging out with friends, binging shows on the couch with family, and taking in the arrival of spring weather. It feels outrageous and unfair that your professors assigned you work due on the days after Spring Break ends, not to mention the upcoming exams you’re studying for. 

WashU should value Spring Break as a time to unwind, prioritize mental health, and step away from the frenzies of the semester. But the reality is that most of us have experienced gut-wrenching guilt as our work piles up post-break. It is our responsibility as students to advocate for change and communicate to the administration when we have a concern with policy and, on the other end, for the administration to be receptive to us students and enforce policy in response to student report forms. 

Unlike the Fall semester, which has two distinct breaks to divide up the time — Fall Break in early October and Thanksgiving Break roughly six weeks later — the Spring semester grants a single week off in between eight weeks of coursework. Without having a rest period behind them, students go into Spring Break feeling fatigued by work and early midterms. They leave Spring Break with even more apprehension for upcoming assignments. 

WashU has an assignment policy for Spring Break, created in 2021, and the Office of the Provost has a page on its website for students to report a concern relating to course policy. Despite these efforts, students remain dreadful in the post-Spring Break period. Perhaps the recent policies put in place should be more widely known and upheld. If WashU emails students outlining these rules, more people might stand up for themselves if they believe a professor has violated their right to time off. 

The report form is a crucial tool students must utilize collectively. This means encouraging classmates to join in communicating disapproval when professors violate school policy instead of submitting to “the way it is.” As the sole spring semester reset, Spring Break is essential to the mental health of the WashU student body. It should be enforced that professors respect this time. All midterms should be out of the way. Students should not have to study, write, or complete assignments. Moments of rest and relaxation, after all, are key to productivity. A proper break helps prevent end-of-semester burnout. 

Before you look away from this article and go back to your work, remember that, as students, we have the ability to voice our concerns. We can report that policies in place are not meeting their goal of relieving student frustration. We can tell the administration that although we appreciate the effort that has been done to suggest work not be assigned over break, these policies must be more strictly enforced. With our words and the administration’s actions, we can achieve a break that lives up to its name.

Staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of our editorial board members. The editorial board operates independently of our newsroom and includes members of the senior staff.

Jordan Spector | Managing Forum Editor 

Sophie Schwartz | Junior Scene Editor

Alice Gottesman | Managing Scene Editor

Lewis Rand | Managing Sports Editor

Sara Gelrud | Junior Scene Editor

Nina Giraldo | Editor-in-Chief

Eliza Stulman | Junior Sports Editor

Elizabeth Grieve | Senior Scene Editor

Avi Holzman | Editor-in-Chief