Dear Grace,
I didn’t make any plans for spring break, and now it seems like everyone is doing something cool. What can I plan last minute?
Spring Broke
***
Remember that time right after Christmas vacation when you and all your friends were hanging out and someone started talking about spring break?
“Guys,” you said, “Let’s do something totally epic.”
Everyone nodded enthusiastically. Mexico was brought up. Vegas was suggested. Epic was not optional.
Since it was barely even January and school was just starting, no plans were set in stone. Some mentioned Project Serve. Some said they’d have to talk to their parents. You suggested a Facebook group filled with ideas and epicness. You went home and made that Facebook group.
Fast forward eight weeks and you remember. You wonder why no one ever posted on Facebook. You wonder if everyone just decided to go home. Your parents never even offered to fly you home. You realize spring break is just days, nay, hours away and you have yet to form any plans.
You see some friends from that fateful night in January. They speak animatedly to each other. You are filled with suspicion. You seek answers.
“So…what…like, what are you guys maybe up to for spring break?” Your paranoia is validated.
They’re going to Hawaii. Together. With others. In a group. To have fun. In Hawaii. Sans you.
Once you process the initial shock of blatant exclusion, it can be difficult to stifle the overwhelming sense of panic that may consume your senses. Not only have you been deliberately conspired against, you are now alone in conjuring up a series of activities that will last seven days in distracting you from the intense pain of realizing you have no friends.
So, what’s a broke, friendless loser with an ample amount of free time to do for the vast expanse of availability that is Pepperdine’s spring break?
No. 1 Spend the week experiencing hunger and homelessness.
Here at Pepperdine, students seize any and every opportunity to take up arms against the vicious cycle of poverty. This spring break, do so not by volunteering, organizing food and clothing drives, or making a generous donation to a local charity. Instead, grab a sleeping bag, stock up on groceries homeless people can’t afford, grab your iPhone and set up camp outside the Sandbar to enjoy a week sleeping under the stars in the mild Malibu climate. I understand, however, how this activity might lose its appeal given the lack of a student audience to witness your selflessness or conversely mock you relentlessly for using a MacBook while lying in a sleeping bag on Joslyn Plaza. Your call.
No. 2 Earn some extra cash.
No flights booked? Stop by Jack in the Box and see if you can pick up the late shift. Earning $8 an hour for two nights in a row will help in your quest to amass enough wealth to ensure this spring break fandango won’t happen again.
No. 3 Swim to Catalina.
Rather than posting up in Towers or camping out on Joslyn Plaza, why not relive your abroad experience with a staycation at the local wonder that is Catalina Island? Sure, it’s not Santorini, but who’s to say it can’t be twice as charming? If exercise is what you’re looking for, rent a kayak and set out on a brisk eleven-hour voyage across the open waters of the Pacific. Don’t forget to pack your golf clubs; once you arrive you’ll be eager to jump in on activities designed for large families with small children. Nothing cures oppressive loneliness like throwing off the head count on a Groupon by putting in your name as a party of one.
