Spring Break? No sorry I go to BYU

I come from an area near the coast and summertime means one thing, the beach.  This especially applies after a long fall and winter of school studies and working long hours.  When the first signs of sunny days and nice weather appear around the middle of March, everyone knows what is coming. Spring break.  It is such a tradition that even elementary schools participate in it.  Spring Break gives a great opportunity to get away from the office, school studies, or other situations sometimes considered stressful.  Some of the great activities can be to go to the great outdoors to enjoy mother nature, take a splash at the water park, or soak up the sun at the beach.  The main point is to get out and enjoy yourself, take a break from the constant grind of life and its weary effects.  This includes students and parents alike.  BYU should give students a spring break to give them an opportunity to take a break from their studies, allow students and faculty to enjoy the outdoors, and regain their focus on school.  

          Many studies have shown that when a person is under constant stress for long periods of time, negative health effects may occur.  BYU is a high-level  educational institution, where grading is competitive and classes require demanding deadlines.  Now if you stack internships and a part-time job on top of that, the stress level of a student may on the roof.  Weekends are one feasible argument often used to counter the need for breaks, but we all ,as students, know that most weekends are used in catching up in upcoming assignments or exams.  The only other alternative is holidays.  This allows a student to take a break from attending classes and use that allotted time to rest or do otherwise leisurely activities.  In this particular area, we normally receive snow during the winter time and cannot participate in many outdoor activities due to the weather (with the exception of winter sports).  However, when spring arrives, the weather clears up and the sun comes out, leaving a perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy the vast outdoors.  This break from ones' studies and allowed rest/leisure time, gives the students an opportunity to "regain" their focus and prepare for the end of the semester.  Simple statistics show that a more focused and devoted student often scores highers on exams than a distracted or unmotivated student.  Although BYU may have good intentions on keeping students from participating or being near "spring break parties" involving alcohol and drug usage, it may be falling off a slippery slope.  The constant grind of exams, and stresses of life may accumulate and cause students to actually do worse that their otherwise normal performance.  As President Eyring once said concerning the effect of daily stress in procrastination, "For most of us the temptation to delay will come from one or both of two feelings. They are polar opposites: one is to be complacent about what we have already done; and the other is to feel overwhelmed by the need to do more."  We all have our agency to choose to good, and by not allowing us to choose for ourselves, we are not given the option to perform at our best.  I believe BYU should allow future spring breaks to students.