As the holiday season comes around, everyone is looking forward to getting out of school and spending time with their family. Some families have trips planned while others have large parties that require days of preparation. In the past few years, there was time after finals for families to plan their parties or hop on a plane to travel. This year, with the last day of finals being on Dec. 22, students and teachers alike are not given this luxury. With a mere three days before Christmas, there are many issues that arise from this time restraint.
The holiday season is a nightmare on the roads and in the air. Leaving the area earlier allows families to take advantage of relatively open highways and not so crowded airports. But with school going on until the 22nd, families have to leave that same day or the next day to be able to beat the traffic and make it to their destination on time. There is also the probability of delays at the airport which would make the family arrive even later. Meghan Doan ‘18 is someone who ran into this problem. |
“My family just put off our plans completely until summer because break started too late for us to go to Vietnam. Starting break later means having less time to prepare for the holidays. Many students want to focus on finals and having three days to prepare for travels is really hectic. It’s unfortunate for people who have family outside of San Jose,” said Doan.
Break starting later also results in less time to enjoy the holiday season. If you’re helping your mom cook, or doing the cooking yourself, for all the extended family coming over, you won’t be able to have time to hang out with friends. If break started earlier, there would be time for students and teachers to enjoy all the celebrations that go on during this time and still have time to prepare for the parties.
There is a lot of confusion surrounding why break starts later. It all boils down to the fact that there is a time cycle for when breaks are. For the past two years, holiday break started earlier, on the 16th and 18th, but before that, the winter of 2012, holiday break started on the 20th. The end of the first semester depends on the year and the scheduling cycle. With nothing we can really do about it, all there is to do is to find ways to circumvent the possible problems that arise.
Break starting later also results in less time to enjoy the holiday season. If you’re helping your mom cook, or doing the cooking yourself, for all the extended family coming over, you won’t be able to have time to hang out with friends. If break started earlier, there would be time for students and teachers to enjoy all the celebrations that go on during this time and still have time to prepare for the parties.
There is a lot of confusion surrounding why break starts later. It all boils down to the fact that there is a time cycle for when breaks are. For the past two years, holiday break started earlier, on the 16th and 18th, but before that, the winter of 2012, holiday break started on the 20th. The end of the first semester depends on the year and the scheduling cycle. With nothing we can really do about it, all there is to do is to find ways to circumvent the possible problems that arise.