Spring break this year is March 9–16. Since spring weekend was canceled due to snow, this will be your only chance to relax for more than two days until May. Here are a few ideas and activities you can try this year. Some are tried and true, while others you may have never thought of.
* Go to the beach
Go the traditional route this spring and spend a week relaxing by the oceanside. Get a group of your friends together and rent a cabin at Myrtle Beach. Or you could be a bit more frugal and camp in the sand somewhere like First Landing National Park in Virginia Beach.
* Have a “Staycation”
Can’t afford to travel? Make the best of this break by exploring the sites of your hometown. If you are a commuter or live near Shepherd, there are many amazing sites to see that are only a short drive away. Learn about John Brown in Harpers Ferry, hike up Maryland Heights or visit Antietam National Park.
* Go on a road trip
Pack up the car and your friends and hit the open road for a week. You can travel to one specific city or destination or hit a bunch on the way. This country is full of crazy roadside attractions like the world’s largest teapot in Chester, W.Va. or the world’s largest kaleidoscope in New York. Sophomore Torin Penwell said that he plans on traveling to Morgantown to visit a friend for the break. He’s “not quite sure what we will do or for how long, but I am glad to be getting away for awhile.”
* Go to a theme park
If you are an adventure-seeker, then spend part of the week screaming your head off on rollercoasters. Take a short drive to Kings Dominion for the crazy coasters, Hersheypark for the candy, or Massanutten resort for the water slides.
* Volunteer
This year, use your break to do something good for someone else. There are many volunteer programs you can join to gain some good karma. Shepherd’s Alternative Spring Break program is still accepting applications for local-based service. Another option is Habitat for Humanity which always needs volunteers wherever you live or are able to travel.
* Clean your home
As freshman Ciara Hall said, “For once in my life, I’m actually going to get some spring cleaning done!” Go the classic springtime route and try to tidy up your house. Don’t have a house? Clean up your car, bedroom, or help a friend clean theirs. Nothing feels better than walking into a shiny, nice-smelling room at the end of the day.
* Be on TV
Ever wanted to be a television star? You can get pretty close this spring by getting a ride up to New York or Los Angeles to be a member of a live studio audience during the taping of a sitcom, talk show, or game show. Tickets for these events are free but are often hard to get. To find out more, check out tvtickets.com or 1iota.com.
* Read an awesome book
This week-long break is a great opportunity to get down and read a novel for fun, not because you had to. Check out a book from Scarborough Library before you leave and come back a little bit sharper. Some suggestions are George R. R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones” for fantasy fans, Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” for science fiction lovers, or Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” for history buffs.
* Watch an entire series on Netflix
If you subscribe to a service like Netflix or Hulu, you can spend this break watching every single episode of that show everyone is talking about; you can finally be in the loop about why your friends think “Breaking Bad” is so awesome. Discover why “Firefly” being canceled was a true television tragedy. And if you think that you can’t possibly watch all 121 episodes of “Lost” over the course of seven days, think again.
* Study
Of course, you could always spend this week off doing your homework, but it is called spring break for a reason. So go have fun and relax as much as you can for this short vacation; school will still be here when you get back.
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