The benefits of a fall reading break
A fiery debate lit up the Central Student Association (CSA) Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday, Jan. 21, when discussing the potential implementation of a fall reading break at the University of Guelph. Attendees raised their hand in favour or in opposition of a motion that, if passed, would allow the CSA to engage in serious conversation with administration with student support. Currently, nine universities in Ontario are benefiting from introducing a fall reading break, along with numerous institutions across Canada and the United States.
The prominence of mental health concerns for students is increasing at a staggering rate. Anxiety and stress plagues us all as we trudge through the semester, assignment after assignment. Collectively, we need to focus on proactive approaches rather than reactive measures. Let’s prevent both the development of mental health concerns, as well as crisis situations within the community.
Incoming first-year students pose a particular concern. We’ve all been through the transition from high school to university. Speaking on behalf of my personal experience, this is a daunting task. Step one: remove subject from familiar environment, which they have become accustomed to for the entirety of their life. Step two: replace marshmallow-licorice DNA models with a demanding workload and seemingly foreign course-material. Step three: force subject into playing uncomfortable icebreaker games within their residence community in a backwards attempt to create camaraderie. I’m sure that you can resonate with these images from your first experience of university. I’m overtly confident that the introduction of a fall reading break could have an immense impact on a student’s mental health, well-being, and academic performance. There’s not one universal method to be completely prepared for university – you just have to dive in. This tough social, academic, and environmental transition can cause many first-year students to “drown” in the overwhelming pressure that is first-year. A full-week break would be sufficient time to relax, but also reflect on goals, and studying techniques, time-management strategies. Students could implement this reflection heading into midterms, term assignments, and final exams. I do believe in growing through adversity and developing resilience. Nonetheless, we seriously need to take into consideration both the reported and unreported proportion of students with mental health afflictions.
If you attended the CSA AGM, you likely noticed the dialogue regarding scheduling concerns. Arguments regarding the logistics of applying this break are valid. As most do, I enjoy the three-week break after exams to travel home, to work, to see family, and to loaf in the post-semester exhaustion. Last semester, many universities tested pilot programs with both a fall reading break while keeping a three-week winter break. It is inappropriate to stand against a preventative measure; doing so is essentially saying, “a minor inconvenience to me is more important than someone else’s mental health.” For those less apt to incur mental health complications, open your eyes and your mind. We shouldn’t worry about making up three missed days. The solution is often more attainable than one might assume.
Public service announcement: there are benefits here for all of us. I’m assuming the seemingly straightforward pros have somehow been diluted. Catch up and get ahead with your work, re-evaluate your semester, have time to reconnect with family and friends, finish that season of Friends, and sleep for 14 hours in one day. I think we’re scared of change. Wake up and smell the hidden potential. Change is good. Change is excellent. Change is necessary.