Confession: Spring Break’s Expectations vs. Realities

Wild parties and the beach are what most prospective college students expect of Spring Break prior to college. Wild parties and the beach are not what most receive. Home is a common Spring Break location, whether planned or not.

Unbelievable? Well, maybe this list of what to expect when expecting Spring Break will make it believable.

In which plans aren’t set in stone, beach bodies are not achieved, and sweats are the ultimate Spring Break look.

Location is Everything

Expectation: South Beach, Miami; the Bahamas; Cozumel, Mexico. Anywhere warm is where you and your closest friends can be found during Spring Break. The time to show off that beach body that has arrived. Where better to do so than a beach? It is warm and socially acceptable for men to lack a shirt without being considered a “show off” and for women to not be constricted to a lot of clothing.

Reality: Honestly, with the stress of college, it can be hard to achieve that beach body. Have no fear! Your Spring Break destination may not require a beach body. This destination offers a home cooked meal and maybe a furry animal nestled against you as you sleep. Yes, home is where a lot of college students find themselves during Spring Break. It is cheap. Plus, it is always great seeing your childhood friends and that cool mom of yours. 

Childhood Friends, All the Time

Expectation: Instead of heading to the beach for a week with college friends, you choose to stay home and meet up with your childhood friends. You cannot wait to hear stories of their college adventures and relay your own. Making memories, while remembering memories, will be the best. You have waited weeks to meet up and nothing can get in your way.

Reality: That one friend that goes to school not even two hundred miles away you will not get to see. Why? It seems like almost everyone you want to hang out with is on a different Spring Break than you are. Suddenly, that trip your friend in college was talking about does not seem so bad.

Everyone is In!

Expectation: You and your friends discussed Spring Break plans early last fall semester. Everyone was in; no doubt. The location, how you were getting there, where you were staying, what you were doing, and so, on were set in stone. Commitments and payments by everyone were made. No worries. Hollywood will want to make your Spring Break into a movie.

Reality: It is the first week of the spring semester and two of your friends have to drop out; their parents already made plans (probably free, too). You can survive. You have other friends…until the third week of spring semester hits and a few more drop out due to lack of funding. Cool. All right, at least you have one friend still in.

Oh wait. There was an argument? You two are no longer friends?

Aca-Awkward.

Destination Beach: All Day, Every Day

Expectation: One of the most common Spring Break spots for college students: Miami. Beach days, beach bodies, and parties; nothing screams more “Spring Break!” than that. Constant sunshine? Cool nights? What is there to worry about except repeating a beach outfit?

Reality: You arrive at Miami only to be confronted with either the cold or the rain. It is March, people. Florida’s location does not make it immune to the cold. As for rain, well Florida is no stranger. There go your beach days, cuties in beach bodies, and late night parties. At least you can hide that uh…non-beach body.

A Picture for Every Moment

Expectation: Whether you are at the beach, a party, or a club, you want pictures. You have boasted about this trip to friends outside of the ones with you. Why would you not post pictures on Facebook or Instagram?  The perfect beach body; snap it. At a club with drinks in hand; snap it. So drunk you cannot remember it; snap it. You have to have the most ‘likes’ on your album, after all.

Reality: If you end up at a club at night, more than likely your phone will be dead from the activities you did in the day. Dead phone equals no battery life for pictures. Maybe you do get to take pictures of these adventures. Then you realize something: you are in college. Employers may look at your social media accounts. No posting photos for you. Oh well, scrapbooking is still in, right?

Trade in the bathing suits for sweatpants and a t-shirt. “Destination Home” may be where you find yourself this Spring Break, just like many of your peers.

---

I’m just an average college girl with many stories; many words; many confessions. 

These are just some of the confessions of an average college girl to average college girls.

…And there are many more to come.

Have A Great Spring Break, 

Kay