By Vanessa Long
Amid the excitement for nine days away from campus, I was continuously reminded in each of my classes of the tight leash I was being kept on with impending deadlines — a paper here, a prelim there. My excitement was snuffed out as my professors morphed into evil versions of Oprah, “You get an assignment; you get an assignment!” In my quest to quell my frustration, I asked people in different majors and colleges if they, too, had approaching deadlines, and it seemed that, like me, most students had work to do over spring break.
On March 28, the Friday before break, I collapsed into my seat on an OurBus to New York City with weariness. I had a paper due that night, which felt unnecessarily cruel, as I could almost taste the freedom of home. So, I opened up my laptop on the bus, connected my computer to my faulty hotspot, and typed away. At this point in the semester, I knew I wouldn’t be alone in my suffering; like I predicted, I was accompanied by other students hard at work. The girl beside me slaved over a biology assignment, drawing diagrams on her iPad with her Apple pencil, and all I could hear from the guy adjacent to me was the clacking of keys as he wrote what I assumed was an essay taking up the last bit of his sanity. As I typed away, enveloped in the bus atmosphere that resembled the Stacks of Olin, I was reminded of the correspondence sent by the Dean of Students on Thursday, March 27. In this email, students were encouraged to “step away” from schoolwork and “spend time with friends and loved ones;” the instruction I found especially humorous was for students to “relax.” I looked around the tense atmosphere of the bus and felt frustrated that “relaxing” during break felt so unachievable.
This library-like environment is not unusual for the bus. As many know, the bus ride to and from Ithaca is a time to slump against the window in slumber, as well as an unwanted opportunity to “lock in” and grind. Personally, I have never been able to relax on the bus on my way to or from a break. Every time, I’ve had some pre-lecture quiz to complete, an essay to write or an assignment that needed my attention. It’s not uncommon to see others on this supposed bus ride to freedom continuing to complete work. But why is this collective suffering approaching and throughout university recesses the norm? Why do we clench our teeth and push through by sheer grit during our “breaks”?
If UChicago is “where fun goes to die,” is Cornell “ where breaks are just a formality”? On May 19, 2023 the Faculty Senate for Cornell adopted a policy where “faculty cannot administer graded exams or quizzes, conduct in-class graded assignments, or set due dates for graded assignments immediately after a break.” If this is the case, why did I spend a significant chunk of my Thanksgiving Break writing a five-page paper due the Monday we returned? If this policy is law, why did I stay on campus during February break because I had tight deadlines?
Why then, during my Spring Break trip home to Georgia, did I spend a considerable amount of time hacking at my computer, trying to chip away at my mountain of assignments and prelim-prep against a bright blue backdrop of clear skies and a constant high temperature in the 80s? Too often, I turned down moments of connection to finish a paper or study for my exams, and it was frustrating.
The stress of trying to complete assignments and study enveloped me like the pollen should have — Georgia recently broke its record for a pollen count of almost 15,000, and trust me, during my infrequent outside endeavors, I suffered. Don’t get me wrong, I still made my way down to Waffle House just to put Stevie Wonder and America on the jukebox, and I sat outside Bruster’s with a cone of Graham Central Station. But it wasn’t the same, simply because of the never-ending stream of assignments and exams dangling over my head.
So, what is the purpose of an unsupported policy? On paper, Cornell favors students by acknowledging our need for a break. In practice, Cornell half-heartedly enforces this “rule” during their bi-yearly reminder to professors, and the student body is still victimized by professors’ casual disregard for the policy and the University’s lack of enforcement. This is truly unacceptable; Cornell must stand up for its students and require adherence to this rule. As a student body, we deserve better. We’ve been working hard all year, and we deserve a moment to collect ourselves and breathe before reentering this collegiate world that feels like Wipe Out. I don’t want to fall off the metaphorical red ball and drown because I’m exhausted and running on energy drinks and the hope of a moment of solace.
All I want is to enjoy the nine days I have off of school to see my family seven states away without the overwhelming knowledge that “I need to finish this paper” or “I need to study for quickly approaching prelims.” I’m a person before I’m a student, and during breaks, I want the peace I’ve earned. Every student does. All I ask is that the University follows its already-established policy. Students are exhausted.
Vanessa Long is a first-year in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at vvl22@cornell.edu.
