Students share their plans to get away from spring semester stress over break

This Friday, the campus community will have the opportunity to step away from their work or studies and take a much-anticipated pause.

Jamaica, Scotland, Florida and Chapel Hill are just a few places UNC students will be spending their spring break. Senior Jordanna Baldauf will be soaking up her final UNC spring break in a rented house in Jamaica. 

“I’m looking forward to the summer beachy weather and being with all of my friends,” Baldauf said.

While there, she said she plans on going to the pool and the beach, spending a day on a boat and also finding a spot to go cliff jumping. 

However, for Baldauf, this trip is bittersweet — as it marks the beginning of the end of her time at UNC.

“I don’t even want to go on the trip because I don’t want it to be over,” Baldauf said. “It makes me really sad.”

While many students may find themselves in a tropical setting, others, like first-year Tori Bissram, are taking a different and immersive route.

Bissram is going to Scotland and London over spring break, traveling with her parents and some of her friends. She said the trip will give her an opportunity to visit a friend who is currently in Scotland for Carolina Spring Forward, which allows first-year students to study abroad in their spring semester. 

In Scotland, she will be going on a ghost tour and visiting several different castles and plans on having tea at one of them. Her group is also visiting the island of Skye, where they will be doing some hiking and viewing of the local wildlife, she said.

“I felt like for me, I just wanted to explore a new culture as opposed to just staying on a resort for a whole week,” she said.

The trip, Bissram said, will allow her to use her brain in a different way than she does while class is in session at UNC. 

“I have so many exams and papers this week," she said. "So just getting all that done and having a week to relax and see something new and obviously work my brain, but not academically — just more sort of getting to learn a new culture.”

Some students may remain on campus for spring break. Sophomore Madison Valadez will be spending part of her break at UNC while working for the baseball team.

As a current marketing intern for UNC Athletics, she will be working on promotional events at the baseball games over break. Valadez said she is going to visit her parents before she returns to campus, though. And while she may still be at UNC over break, Valadez said she feels as though she is still getting a refresher from school. 

“It’s good to have that safe space to go to aside from school and all the stress that goes on campus,” she said. “So even though it’s on campus and I have to come back, I genuinely enjoy marketing, so I was more than glad to be able to take up those baseball shifts.”

One location that always tends to be particularly popular for spring break is Florida, and UNC first-year Isabella Logan will be going to Boca Raton over spring break. 

Logan said she was looking for a financially affordable option, so she will be traveling with a group of her friends and staying in one of their homes. 

During their time in Florida, Logan said the group plans to get some Vitamin D at the beach and maybe explore some of the surrounding towns. She said she is excited to reassess her goals and hobbies as well.

"I kind of haven't gotten the chance to read, on this break I plan to read a book. You know, just taking the time to do the simple things that we don't have time to do here," she said.

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com