Well, Spring Break has come to an end. Unfortunate, isn't it? Looking back, I had promised myself to accomplish so many things throughout the week. Now, I am absolutely regretting having wasted valuable time. It's not as if I hadn't seen this coming, though. I knew I'd be feeling this way the Sunday night before school, but as I've heard many times before, "Old habits die hard!" Some teachers refuse to assign work over break, insisting that it provides us with time to relax and socialize with our families. Yet on the other hand, other teachers insist that it provides students with a week to catch up on their studies and possibly get ahead. Which, to us, is more beneficial? Do our minds deserve a few days of relaxation, or should we be expected to work our way up to the finish line? Think about our upcoming AP exams alone...yikes!
It has been proven that people who live in a constant environment of fatigue and stress suffer from a more rapid deterioration of brain functions than would an average person. Some experts recommend listening to classical music (especially Mozart), engaging in breathing excercises and meditation, keeping good posture, exercising, and taking vitamin and mineral supplements. More and more, patients who frequent the doctor's office are complaining of psychological problems, most often the result of acute or chronic stress. According to WebMD Health News, however, life expectancy hit a new record of 78.1 years (four months longer than it was in 2005) for babies born in 2006 as of June 11, 2008. Even cases of heart disease, stroke, and cancer decreased in 2006. These statistics puzzle me, though. I feel that life has become more stressful for more recent generations. I've heard tales from my parents' childhoods, and they all seem like stories of innocent, carefree fun. What can we accredit this to other than advances in medicine?
(Samantha Maliha)
P.S. Hope you all had an awesome Spring Break!
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5 comments:
I agree with Sam that the scientific facts are puzzling. But, regarding her first question as to whether or not it would be more beneficial for us to use Spring break to relax or catch up/get ahead, I would choose the former. I find that after weeks of hard work and lack of sleep, not having a true mental rest would be detrimental. I realize that teachers still give homework, but I don't think that's such a great idea, generally speaking. I realize we have AP tests coming up, and I realize that most of us are taking heavy course-loads, but to me these seem like reasons to rest up even more, to take a break before a few weeks of intense work. I guess this is just personal opinion, though, because some teachers are still determined to give homework over break...
Emily T.
(Although, I really can't complain... I got off pretty well this break and I am so thankful :) )
Regarding spring break, I think that there just has to be a sort of balance. We can't have no absolutely no work from our teachers, lest we forget a large portion of the information that they taught us, which is largely possible. However, at the same time, it would be bad to give us a large amount of work. Without some sort of rest, many of us would be fried from all the stressing work that we have to do on a daily basis for our classes. I also think that less work may actually be beneficial because the time can be better spent elsewhere. For example, instead of having work from a class about some current subject, it might be more beneficial to go back and review what he or she does not remember so well. Overall, no homework assigned over break gives more freedom to the student to focus on areas that they feel they really need to. After all, the student does know best what he or she knows and doesn't know in each class.
Well, procrastination is part of human nature. I'm sure we all made wonderful plans for all the goals we would reach during spring break...and failed to reach many of them.
Anyway, a little stress can be good. It sharpens the mind, provides focus, and prods the chronic procrastinator to finally start working. Although stress is typically regarded as a bad thing, a recent Newsweek cover article detailed how "stress can save your life." After all, there's good reason why stress exists. Not only did it probably save the lives of our cavemen ancestors, memories formed under stress also are "stickier" and last longer. But of course, too much of anything can be negative, especially stress.
-Eric W.
I wholeheartedly believe that assigning work over spring break is ridiculous and utterly pointless. Many teachers give assignments over break because they want students to retain the information which they have been learning. Most students, however, will complete the assignments with minimal effort, if at all, because they naturally wish to take a break. Is this not what the week off is for? It's not called a BREAK for no reason! Since they complete them with little effort, they hardly benefit anyway in terms of retaining information, so really - what's the point? Yes, APs are imminent and teachers must cover all necessary material, but I highly doubt that the curriculum would've been planned treating spring break as a school week.
Essentially, what I am arguing is that relaxation & sleep are MUCH more beneficial to us than is reinforcing or getting ahead in the curriculum. The statistics reveal it all, and experience can as well. Why else would we be told to "get a good night's sleep" before a long exam like the SAT? Certainly sleep pays off in the end because our bodies cannot function without it.
Eric, I cannot seem to understand how "memories formed under stress are 'stickier' and last longer." Maybe you could elaborate on this, because I would think that this depends on the individual's memory. I personally feel as if I remember things better if I receive the information when I'm not under as much stress.
(Janet Lee)
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