After getting off a red eye flight into New York City over spring break, Lucy Broughton instantly dove into the all-consuming atmosphere of the big city. Feeling alive when surrounded by new languages and “more buildings than the sky,” she was overjoyed by the captivating city. When visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, she initially did not think she would understand the hype. However, on the boat ride to visit the magnificent Statue of Liberty up close, Broughton instantly felt mesmerized by the history behind the monument, far exceeding her initial expectations. 

“I was looking up, and I was just so amazed. This is what people saw like when they were coming into Ellis Island … Probably some of my ancestors saw the same thing that I saw, and I thought that was really cool,” says Broughton.

Broughton also notes the significance of school breaks in cultivating connection between family members. Broughton and her family participate in a lot of after school activities which makes it hard to find time to spend all together. However, over break, they all shared a small hotel room and got to make up on the time they lost during the school year. 

Regardless of their plans for school breaks, Milwaukie high school students reach the same consensus – school breaks are important for bringing a sense of joy.

“It felt like the city was smaller than I thought it would be, in a good way. I was spending all of the time with my family, so we were just going everywhere as a little group and viewing the city together, which was really nice and made it feel not so overwhelming,” says Broughton. 

New York/New Experiences:

Milwaukie Academy of the Arts senior Gigi Freed says spring break is crucial for students to have the time and opportunity to rest in between winter and summer because it’s a much longer period of time than between other breaks. 

Freed also visited NYC for the first time over spring break. She learned how to carve out calm moments among the overwhelming amount of stimuli that she felt – the bright lights in Times Square and the constant bustle of crowded sidewalks. Freed believes that spring break can serve as a learning experience, especially when you travel, by learning the atmosphere of new places and how to manage it. “I feel that was a really good experience to have before I graduate, and I feel like I learned so much more there in just one day than in a whole week in school. You know … Just real world stuff and the rules of the world and societal things,” says Freed.

Japan:

Milwaukie Academy of the Arts junior Nicole Gutsal went to Japan over spring break. She went with her mom and brother, and it was her family’s first time visiting the country. Gutsal especially loved trying out onsens (Japanese spas), eating the delicious food of the Japanese cuisine, and even felt a wave of reverence wash over here when viewing the many historical buildings. 

While in Japan, Gutsal was able to meet extended family on her mom’s side whom she had never met before. Prior to meeting them, Gutsal and her mom bonded over mapping out a family tree together, seeing how they were related to the new family. When meeting the family, they broke out in Russian and clicked instantly. 

Gutsal is a 4.0 student and works very hard in school, which contributes to a lot of additional stress. She always tries to get all of her homework done so she can focus on staying in the moment during breaks. At the start of school breaks, she instantly feels fantastic, knowing that her hard work has paid off. 

“I have freedom. I have joy. I don’t have to deal with the stress of everyday life as a high school student … I’m gonna work hard, but then I’m gonna be able to go and enjoy my spring break, and I’ll be able to actually enjoy it because I know that I worked for it,” says Gutsal. 

Family Connections:

After school gets out for each school break, Milwaukie High School junior Kyla Lemieux, steps off a ferry, arriving on the place known as Vancouver Island. Why? To visit her father and spend time reconnecting with her Canadian family. As her dad and his side of the family live in Canada, it can be hard to find time to see each other. 

Lemieux’s father lives in Victoria, British Columbia, and her dad’s other family members live in various other places around Canada. Due to the extensive length of the road trip, usually about eight hours one way, she can only visit her family on breaks. 

“A lot of my family lives really far away. If I were in school all the time, I would probably never get to see them, because it’s hard for some of them to travel. When I see my family members in person, it really makes our relationships thrive,” says Lemieux.

She emphasizes the importance of school breaks on students’ mental health, explaining that breaks are crucial for students to have to rest and relax. 

“Students get very overwhelmed, and if they’re working for too long of a period of time without any breaks, they’ll get burnt out, and their quality of work and their happiness will be lower,” says Lemieux.

For students like Lemieux, summer is more than a time to relax, but a time to learn. Lemieux explains that learning opportunities are not limited solely to the school year, and instead, can be prevalent during the summer. Engaging in workshops, college classes, and summer camps are all ways students can expand their knowledge during the summer. Lemieux will be attending the Recording Academy’s summer camp – Grammy Camp – to focus on Music Business, something exclusive that she cannot simply learn in school.