University of Florida Gators have returned to the humble abode we call the Swamp after a week void of worries, AKA spring break. With fresh tan lines and unhealthy sleep schedules, we came back from spring break with crazy stories and slight headaches. From Netflix bingeing to world traveling, UF students did more than party this spring break. So what did they do?
1. Hike in Washington State
“We went on a couple hiking trails. The first one we went to a waterfall, then we somehow ended up in, like, five feet of snow, and then 30 minutes down the road we went on another hiking trip that had no snow. I wasn’t even wearing my ski jacket, and we saw two other waterfalls on that one. We actually went to Seattle and we saw a gum wall where everybody puts gum on that wall and it gets cleaned every four years….We saw the Seattle Tower, we went to the Bowing Flight Museum, which has all the airplanes that they made from the Wright brothers up and showed us how they made it with the machines….That was pretty much it.” –Gabby Letourneau, UF, Freshman, Finance
2. Mission Work in Mexico City
“So over spring break I got to go on a mission trip to Mexico City. That idea originally spawned about just because I’m very involved with the Catholic Gators over at the church and I’m very involved in my faith, and I believe that, in faith, it’s in discomfort where we grow the most….We were working with street kids. There were 16 of us and there’s 30,000 street kids in Mexico City alone. Really, all we did was approach them, encounter them, eat with them, treat them as real people, just because over there they aren’t seen as equals in society. You know, they’re like dirt, just left on the sidewalk, it’s like straight out of the Bible like the Good Samaritan story. People will literally walk on the other side of the street rather than approach them or talk to them or even be near them….They have a life expectancy of five years once they start living on the street because they do drugs, all day, everyday, until they die….You can instantly see the change in them, because who knows the last time someone talked to them.” –Jo Sutherland, UF, Junior, Mechanical Engineering
3. Explore Walt Disney World
“My spring break was nice and relaxing. I was with family at home in the city where I’m from. A few times I made it up to Disney World—I have an annual pass there. My parents went there a couple times, saw Fantasmic, saw some things in Animal Kingdom, and for the second weekend of spring break my siblings were home. My brother flew in for the weekend from Georgia Tech and my sister’s spring break from FSU was starting, so we were all together and that was really nice. We went to Disney World for most of the day, and just during week I was helping my dad with some yard work, practicing some cooking skills, and doing some homework and watching TV. Normal, relaxing things. It was nice.” –Jacob Renuart, UF, Senior, Chemistry
4. More Missions in Ecuador
“So I went on a mission trip with the Catholic Gators. We went to Chone in Ecuador and we spent the week serving our sister parish Santa Maria Bernarda. We got to work with the parishioners, we got to do some yard work and also like painting, just making it more beautiful, and we got to hang out with so many kids from the parish and also we went to other neighborhoods and really poor areas, and got to be with them….It’s definitely different from my usual spring break. I’ve never been on a mission trip, so I was like really excited, but I thought it was the most amazing time. I got really close with the people I went with…I think anything out of your comfort zone is good, you’ll grow, so I learned a lot about myself, about other people, and I think it was amazing. So definitely recommend.” –Veronica Celis, UF, Junior, Nursing
5. Sneak Attack at Home
“What did I do for spring break?…My parents didn’t take time off, because I didn’t tell them when spring break was coming because I wanted to sneak up on them and say, ‘Yo! I’m home.’ It worked on my dad….I woke up right when he got home and actually came inside. So I snuck up on him, like I’m right up behind him, and he turns around and I’m hugging him in the back, and his face was priceless. It was like scared, confused and excited at the same time.” –Ashley Recker, UF, Freshman, Animal Science
6. Netflix and More Disney
“I went back home to Tampa and I was able to spend a lot of time with my family even though everybody else had work and school. I stayed home and binge-watched Netflix, very satisfying, I never get to do that here. And we went to Hollywood Studios and went from opening to closing and then went to Gatorland.” –Ana De Guzman, UF, Freshman, Biology
7. Homework
“I just stayed home a lot. I worked on a few video products that I needed to do that I had been pushing away ever since the beginning of the semester….It was sort of fun, personal project, something for me to do.” –Jason Jose, UF, Sophomore, Telecommunications Production
8. Too Much Studying
“I went home and I studied for a Calc exam I had two days after spring break. I studied every day for a while….I did pretty well on it actually. I spent some time with family and friends, but it really was a lot of studying. I was kind of behind, so I needed to catch up.” –Anthony Russello, UF, Sophomore, Computer Science
9. Reign as King of the Castle
“So for spring break, the start of it, I spent about three days in my room just watching Netflix and eating out whatever I wanted. But I didn’t eat out, I ate in here and just everything—junk food, gummy bears, Cheezits, Rice Crispy Treats and chips, maybe some soda. After that, my biggest adventure was walking outside my building, going to the Beaty Rec room and have the entire thing to myself, because the entire thing is closed off, it’s empty and there’s no one there….I could do whatever I wanted, watch what I want on the big screen TV, roll around, I don’t know, just dance, spam music, and no one’s watching. It’s very stress free.” –Joseph Reed, UF, Sophomore, Biology
10. Enjoy The Good Life
“I was supposed to go home over the break, but I ended up staying in Gainesville. I hung out with friends from work and we had an Oscars watch party and a sleepover. I watched, like, ten movies and I slept in everyday.” –Tatiana “Taz” Elysée, UF, Sophomore, English
