Galleries

SUNBURSTS | Sunnies During Fall Break

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The Sun’s Editorial Board took time off from hard-hitting journalism to enjoy their Fall Break. See what they’re up to in this week’s special edition of Sunbursts. LEVIN | Editor in Chief Gabe got his hair cut in Beacon, NY over the weekend. FATTAL | Associate Editor Max spent his Fall break in White Mountains, NH. “There was walking around, driving around, and not much else to do,” he said

SENZON | Managing Editor Julia travels on the subway with Emerson Mellon ’26, Emma Smolar ’26 and Emma Alexander ’26 as a part of NYCOMM, an industry seminar through the communication department.

Columns

POGGI: A Guide to Better School Breaks

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I personally advocate for the back-home-break; I find that mid-semester trips or vacations are not particularly restful. Here’s my guide for the best possible break at home — split into four days each with a different ethos.

Columns

WEIRENS | Ithaca: The Perfect Staycation?

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It’s nice to get away from campus and explore the world, but it can also be delightful to stay back and relax without having to worry as much about schoolwork. Although I used to believe that the most vibrant part of Ithaca is the rotation of students that come from around the world to study at Cornell, spending both the summer and several breaks here have led me to believe otherwise.

Columns

MEHLER | The Art of Fall Breaking

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This break is an opportunity to reset your body’s rest clock and finish the second half of the semester even stronger than the first. I cannot say enough that you must take the time to relieve some of the stress going on in your life. The most productive stage of performance is in a tolerable stress range: too much or too little stress leads us to be too comfortable or not comfortable enough to perform well. But breaks do not require us to be at performance stress levels. Breathe, rest and recuperate to come back better.

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OLGUIN | Thrown Back Into Normalcy, As if This Were a Normal Year

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This year seems to feel no different than any other academic year we had. Except for the fact that it’s characterized by a very different reality from 2019 – a global pandemic, a worsening climate crisis and global economic crises. I was swallowed as a sophomore and spit back out as a senior, and I’m still trying to process the past year. I find myself a little more emotional than usual – both missing home, friends and family in sunny California. And yet clumsily trying to absorb as much of the treasured time I have with my friends in an arrangement that seems unlike the ones I will encounter after May. 

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BRENNER | Take a Break

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The relentless pursuit of academic perfection has been weighing heavily on my mind since we returned from fall break. My Fall Break was  spent in the Adirondacks without touching or even thinking about the piles of schoolwork I could’ve been doing. After all, it was Fall Break, so I took a break. 

Editorials

EDITORIAL: Put the ‘Break’ Back in Breaks

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A four-day mid-semester pause from classes would seem to offer ample time for students to recharge and focus on well-being and sleep. Nor is this an accident, as The Faculty Handbook Project makes clear: “Short breaks from academic requirements are intentionally included in the academic calendar to provide rest, respite and a break from schoolwork.” Cornell Health further emphasizes the need for rest, especially sleep, with an entire page dedicated to sleep-related health. It recommends students take 7-9 hours every night to get sleep — which, in its words, “is a necessity, not a luxury.”

But is that consistent with the messages our instructors are sending us? Take, for example, the all-too-common practice of professors assigning work during breaktime. When students get work over break, the obvious implication is that the assigned work should trump any need for a proper break.