Knox Tamhankar

All the breaks from school are beneficial, but summer break is the best.

Each school year is sprinkled with four breaks: summer, fall, winter and spring. They all have their perks and their timing is always strategically perfect but the one break that always creates the most anticipation from students and staff is summer break. This longing comes with good reason, the almost three months that we get off during the summer is the best break of them all. 

The sun shines brighter, the flowers are colorful as ever and everyone seems a little bit lighter. Everything feels better in the summer, including the atmosphere. This increase in happiness could be due to the weather, but it is likely because of the freedom that comes with it. 

People are happier and that is the result of not having the stresses from school looming over their heads. This is the reason that summer vacation is the best; it is the only break that feels like a break and not just a pause from learning. There is usually no schoolwork that is transferred over to the next year, and, for some people, the entire day is theirs. They have none of the obligations that they do during the school year. 

Since everyone has more time to fill, there are more things to do. Most of the outdoorsy activities open up as soon as the temperature rises. All the added time that students get can be spent doing things that they want or need to do like working or traveling. 

Another perk that goes along with the fact that students have free time is that the weather is warm. Summer break is the only time that consistently has warm weather every year. Sometimes, spring break feels like a shorter winter break purely because of the weather. Fall and winter break are always full of cold and the chance of snowy days. Having time off school while the weather is beautiful is a nice change from the murky days we get during all the other breaks. 

During the other breaks, students do get time to enjoy themselves to some degree but there will always be the inevitable impending doom of having to go back to school in a few days. Summer break is the only time during the year when students can be kids without having to worry about how much stress they will be under after a week of freedom.