It’s 6:00 PM on a winter evening during Christmas break. You’re at home, recalling how you spent so many enjoyable summer evenings hanging out with friends in the bright sunshine, drinking Coke and having a good time. But right now, it’s completely dark when you look out the window, it’s too cold to even go outside, and you have the same old gloomy feeling of boredom. While you may have the privilege of enjoying hot cocoa in the winter, just think about it for a second: summer break is much, much longer and the season itself gives so much more enjoyment and flexibility. As a result, summer break is undoubtedly the best break that students will experience throughout the school year.

Summer break usually starts around mid-June and goes all the way until the next academic year, which starts near the end of August, totaling a supreme 2 and a half months.  This towers in comparison to the measly 1 week of Thanksgiving break or pitiful 10 days off that students get during the winter. Irvington students are almost always busy during the weekdays, and even weekends because of extracurriculars. Not only are students busy with work, however; many are also involved in doing fun projects and activities on their own, whether it be drawing, painting, making a film, or even reading a book for that matter. However, the reality is that most never get time to do such things during the school year. The weeklong breaks students get during the fall and winter rarely live up to excitement as well. These breaks, due to their short nature, end up being used to recover one’s sleep (which albeit never happens due to the existence of Netflix) or catch up on the schoolwork. By the time break is over, these fun projects and activities have not yet been achieved, and one is back to the mundaneness of school without having accomplished anything. Summer, on the other hand, offers so much free time, with literally over 2 months worth of time at  disposal. The projects neglected during the short week-long breaks can actually be completed. Not to mention, the fact that proper trips can actually be accomplished; where they don’t need to be squeezed into a single week and aren’t all indoors just because the temperature happens to below 40 degrees. 

In terms of seasonal advantages versus disadvantages, summer dominates winter as well. During summer break, the sun shines bright high in the sky for much, much longer; one gets to enjoy the evenings outdoors feeling energetic in the sunny climate. In winter, by the time school work is done, it’s already 5 or 6 in the evening, the sun’s gone down and students are generally left feeling pretty sad and gloomy. Even apart from the additional daylight hours, summer offers another seasonal advantage: you can travel to the beach more often! The Bay Area offers so many wonderful coastal destinations, many of which would be freezing cold in the winter, especially the beaches. During summer break however, a trip to the beach is not only possible but very much enjoyable because of the pleasant sunny weather.

Now you might say, over summer, students usually end up forgetting almost everything we learnt last year by the time the next year starts. Although that fact is true, the more important and beneficial effect of break is that students actually get a substantial amount of rest that they desperately need. Imagine, just to make students remember the information, summer break was shortened to a month. Perhaps it will work but at what cost? The break will turn out to be completely ineffective in terms of keeping students healthy.

In the end, you might still think that summer break is not that great. It’s true that many do waste time during summer, but that all comes down to how students manage and treat their own routine. In the whole year, summer break is the longest bit of free time and the best opportunity students get to achieve goals and complete fun projects, while also taking a break from the extremely stressful academic year and having a fun time with friends and family.