It’s almost spring break, and Penn State students are optimistic

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Spring break 2022 is approaching, and many Penn State students are eager to have their first spring break in two years — however, it seems that COVID-19 concerns are fading into the background.

Some students are looking forward to relaxing or having fun on an exhilarating vacation, others are simply going home to see friends and family.

One student expecting to go home and visit family next week is Trenten McCracken (junior-plant sciences).

“I’m planning to go home and visit my family for the week,” McCracken said. “I haven’t seen them all semester. No big plans.”

Caroline Klaiber (freshman-business management) had a similar idea; she said that she will be going home, not having any major plans for spring break.

“I’m just going home for the week,” said Klaiber. “I’m going home to hang out with my dog.”

Anna Ludwig (freshman-advertising) said she is going to Florida with her mother, her travel plans previously cancelled because of health and safety concerns.

“My trip to Florida was rescheduled…it was cancelled during Christmas break because of like the omicron variant. Now it’s better, I guess.” Ludwig said.

Sharing Ludwig’s optimism regarding travel plans, Princeton Bijou (sophomore-chemical engineering) said that, compared to last year, he isn’t as concerned about COVID-19.

“For spring break I’d like to go home and visit family,” Bijou said. “We weren’t really planning on going out or anything like that. Just spending time with family. That’s what matters.”

As vaccinations have become more common and easily accessible — including the COVID-19 booster — students are feeling more at ease with their plans.

“If this was maybe last year, it would have affected plans, but now both parts of the family that I’m planning to visit are vaccinated and boosted.” Bijou said.

Other students are making up for lost time, traveling because they have been robbed of that ability for the past two years.

According to an article from Travel Pulse, officials predicted that the number of travelers visiting Cancun, Mexico will rise. Still, the total number of visitors are expected to be less than what it was pre-pandemic.

Olive D’Agostino (sophomore-forensic science) is planning to visit Cancun, and she said that COVID-19 was the reason she had not travelled earlier.

“I mean, that’s pretty much the main reason why I haven’t really gone anywhere,” D’Agostino said. “But it seems like it’s clearing up.”

Another student looking forward to their Cancun trip is Viren Hegde (sophomore-business management).

“I just want to go to Cancun, and a couple of my friends are going, so we all mentioned that together,” he said. “It kinda reminds me of home; the beaches kinda remind me of home back in India. So, I said ‘why not? Let’s go to Cancun.’”

Apart from seeing family or planning trips, some students are using the time off to try and find a job or further their careers.

Carson Endy (junior-secondary English education) said that he would be heading home, hoping to find a job this summer.

“Looking for some jobs for summer break,” Endy said. “I might be doing some like, shadowing a teacher at my high school.”

Amid COVID-19 concerns, Endy said that he’s doing everything he needs to do in order to keep himself and those around him safe.

“I’m vaccinated, I got the booster,” he said. “I’ve done what I can and as long as I keep wearing my mask, I’m gonna keep doing what I want to do.”