Flyers Finish Fall Finals, Ready for the Holiday, and Look Forward to 2025
(Picture courtesy of University of Dayton’s Instagram account @universityofdayton)
James Martin | Contributing Writer
As textbooks close, exam bubble sheets get filled in, and campus empties out, three things are on everyone’s mind: winter break, Christmas, and the new year.
This year, University of Dayton students will enjoy a prolonged winter break lasting from the day of their last exam (the final exam period was Dec. 9-13) until Jan. 13, when classes resume for the spring semester.
“I think the length of winter break is just right because we have a long enough break to eliminate stress while having it short enough to get right back into routine,” sophomore Mason Hackett said.
The extended break by the university brings Dayton into the typical break length for area colleges and universities, with Miami University–Oxford as the only outlier due to its J-Term, which extends winter break until Jan. 27 for students who choose not to take classes during this time.
According to sociologists, spending quality time with loved ones, rest, personal pursuits, career development, academic reflection, travel and exploration are activities students should indulge in to ensure a productive break between academic semesters.
All six students interviewed for this story agreed that they will be participating in a few of these activities to pass time while on break.
“Quality time with loved ones, rest, and personal pursuits are all recommended, and I will be implementing them. I think it is important around the holidays to be around family and focus on the things you love while getting a break from the realities of school and work,” sophomore Owen Trick said.
Senior Michael Erwin said his focus is on work.
“From the list, I will focus on career development as I continue working my analytics internship at Robinson Engineering, in Chicago, Illinois, spending some much-needed quality time with friends and family and then definitely attempting to catch up on rest and sleeping as much as possible,” he said.
Traveling also sees an increase around the holidays as AAA estimates that approximately 115.2 million people will travel at some point during the 10-day period surrounding Christmas and New Year’s Eve, an increase of 2.5 million from 2022 and the second highest estimate since AAA began its travel forecast in 2000.
Dayton students will contribute to this number as sophomores Trick and Ada Suriano have already planned out time during their breaks to travel outside their respective home states.
“I am going to be traveling to Iowa City with my friends,” Suriano said.
Trick added, “I am going to Pittsburgh for a weekend and watching the Steelers play sometime in January.”
Other Flyers have decided to hold out on the crazy holiday traveling experience and instead have chosen to travel during academic breaks.
“I will not be traveling for winter break, but I did just get back from Mississippi where I was visiting my brother who is in the Air Force,” said Taryn Smith, a graduate student, “and I have already planned my spring break trip, which will be in Miami.”
Many students, in addition to winter break, Christmas agendas, and travelling, have begun to focus on New Year’s resolutions as well as academic goals for the semester.
Approximately 45 percent of Americans create a New Year’s resolution and 25 percent of those few will give up by the second week of January. In fact, 17 percent of Americans take more than six tries before they can complete the goals they set for themselves.
Don’t fear, though. Cultivating Health at the University of California – Davis offers a list of seven tips to help ensure you become a part of the 40 percent of New Year’s resolutioners that complete your challenge on the first try. The tips include…
- Be picky about your resolutions
- Plan your resolution
- Set very specific goals
- Don’t take on too much
- Choose a new resolution (If you have previously failed)
- Identify accountability partners for support
- Give your resolution time to become a habit
Campus will be closed for the entirety of the break, unless you have signed up for an extended stay. However, some students involved with extracurriculars on campus will be returning to campus earlier than most.
Junior Keren Madjinor said, “as Executive of Recruitment for Sigma Sigma Epsilon, my committee and I will be meeting and planning for a successful week of recruitment towards the end of break and then I’ll return to campus early for the Women Leadership Immersion retreat that I am really excited about!”
Spring semester is scheduled to begin Jan. 13, where students will attend the full week of classes before the university closes for a three-day weekend in celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 20.
Editor’s Note: James Martin is a student in the Flyer News Practicum, a course offered through the Department of Communication for students who desire to learn more about journalism and the media arts. Students in the Practicum are assigned stories – or propose their own story ideas – with the express goal of producing publishable articles for FlyerNews.com.