So spring break is coming up in a few weeks and most people already have their whole week planned out. Surprisingly though, I’ve found that a lot of the student population don’t have what most would think of as a traditional spring break vacation. In fact only a few of those I’ve asked have said that they are going to one of the common spring break locations, like Cancun, Tijuana or the Bahamas. I guess it’s pretty indicative of Hopkins life that most of us either have to work over our break or we spend the time catching up on the sleep we’ve all been missing for the last couple weeks of classes.
Actually, I know that until I got to college I thought that every spring break was like MTV, all crazy partying and wild sex. Well, for a lot of us that’s not true, though I know we all try to make the best of our break from the insanity of our workloads.
I’ve got to say that for your money, by far the best type of spring break vacation to try to get is one of those all-inclusive packages for a resort somewhere warm. And when they say “all-inclusive,” generally that means all your drinks and food, so no worries during the week. It definitely takes the worry off of wondering if you’re going to spend too much or run out of funds half way through.
Oddly enough this year the school board has decided to not have spring break over the week of St. Patrick’s Day. I know it’s a huge party day for most of us and usually the two are combined so we get it out of our systems in the same week. Not having to go to classes with a hangover is always a good thing.
I know it’s not really going to change my spring break plans much, but I did enjoy not having to worry about classes the day after. However, it does make our break a lot later than many other colleges, which means most of us are going to be going partying with a bit smaller of a crowd. I know most of my friends from back home actually have break starting this week so we really are going to all be hitting the very end of the season.
So I know a lot of people get pretty crazy over spring break; otherwise it wouldn’t have the reputation it does. However, it is a great time to unwind. Of course that rep has a ton of strings attached to it as well. The most important thing for everyone to remember over break is to keep as safe as possible without ruining your break with paranoia. Everyone knows the basic safety precautions that you should always take when out drinking anywhere, especially on vacation:
1. Always have safe sex: spring break is notorious for hook-ups; it’s one of the reasons we go away for it. But you have to remember that you can’t rely on the other person to care about safe sex. Girls, I suggest if you have any plans like this to make sure you’re on the pill before you leave and don’t trust the guy to have a condom handy either. Both guys and girls, if you want to hook up with someone, make sure you have protection on you. You literally have no idea how many people the person you’re having sex with has been with even within the last day.
I know we’ve all heard stories of guys and girls getting with multiple people in one night while on spring break. Don’t trust the other person to use a condom, and make sure that they have one on before you start anything. You definitely don’t want to come back from vacation with an STI from a drunken one night stand.
2. Watch your drinks: NEVER walk away from your drinks or put them down. Even guys can get drugged during a party. It happens everywhere, but is known to happen more in spring break locations where anonymity means no one will know who the person is and they’ll be gone by the end of the week.
And watch your meds with your drinks. I know a lot of people who forget that their meds don’t exactly match up to their alcohol intake and it can end badly.
3. Remember drunk people are not reliable: definitely enjoy yourselves during break, but always keep in mind that drunk people cannot be relied on. If you’re with others it’s always a good idea to not be alone; really, you should never be alone in a heavy party situation like that anyway.
Make sure you know your own way back to your room and have the key card for it. Even if they’re the most reliable friends in the world while sober, they will not be paying attention to who you go off with when drunk. You need to make sure that someone knows where you are at all times.
