So it’s finally here: The coveted finish line… summer break! For those students not graduating, a full two months of rest and relaxation await. This, of course, is a stark difference from the comparatively short winter break that has students trying to enter and exit vacation mode in a mere three weeks. Take yourself back to those hectic days before Christmas. Imagine finishing the long four days filled with final exams and getting back your early decision results from colleges.
We asked seniors to look back and reflect on the query: Wouldn’t you want a winter break long enough to rest, recover, and celebrate?
In most parts of the southern hemisphere, such as Australia and South America, winter breaks are usually as long as 1-2 months. However, the average winter break for an SAS student is exactly three weeks. Are these fleeting three weeks truly enough for seniors to recover from the semester of death, to heal or celebrate emotionally from rejection/acceptance letters, to finish many essays for regular schools, or to spend quality time with friends and family?
In order to dive deeper into the seniors’ opinions on the current break situation which is three weeks of winter break and two months of summer break, 30 seniors were asked to choose from these three scenarios.
- Longer Winter Break and Shorter Summer Break
- Shorter Winter Break and Longer Summer Break
- Even time allotted for the Winter Break and Summer Break
The results clearly showed that the students had various opinions, but most seniors preferred a longer winter break, while a few thought that summer break should be longer or that winter break should be the same duration as summer break.
When asked why longer winter break is more preferable, Senior Ashley Hyun commented, “when I used to attend the Australian International school in Singapore, I had longer winter breaks. It was very convenient to travel to more countries with winter seasons.”
Senior Moeka Minami also commented, “I want much more time to rest from the deadly first semester. Also, I want to finish my college applications for my regular schools for as long as I can.”
Seniors Ashley Hyun and Moeka Minami were not the only ones who preferred the first scenario. Senior Alan McDermott also stated, “I prefer longer winter break because I can have more time to get ready for a new semester. However, for summer break, I don’t mind if it’s long or short because the school year has already ended and it’s already a beginning of a new school year.”
However, some seniors believed that the current situation at SAS was much more ideal. Senior Edouard Calla said, “I love having a long break halfway through the year. Winter break is just celebrating Christmas and New Years, but there’s more to summer break- it’s longer, and there are much more things you can do in the long period of time.”
Edouard was not the only one who preferred the longer summer break. Senior Jong Hyun Cha also stated, “I think that longer summer break is better because you can travel to much more places around the world.”
Some seniors preferred the third scenario- even winter break and summer break.
Senior James Park said, “I really enjoy having long summer breaks, but winter break seems too short for me. It’s because 1 month is not enough for me to have fun out of school. I think that even winter break and summer break is preferable because I can balance out my schedules for both breaks.”
Senior Yoon Namgoong added on, “I totally agree with James. Even winter break and summer break is more fitting as we can plan what to do during both breaks accordingly.”
On an end note, although many students voiced various opinions, most seniors thought that the longer winter break and a shorter summer break was the most optimal. However, the three scenarios are just hypothetical situations, and this by any means doesn’t show that there might be any possibility of a change at SAS. This article is based on multiple students’ opinions, and unfortunately, opinions don’t always result in change. Still, it’s a discussion worth having in trying to carve out the ideal balance of academic long-hauls and time to decompress.
THE EYE 