Piper Lehr
Staff writer
It will be an uneventful spring break for many Willamette students this year. Due to the short nature of the break (four days total) and COVID-19, two students, Devyn Mandala (a junior biochemistry major) and Justus Eaglesmith (a senior economics major) said that they will not be doing much besides working and relaxing.
Mandala said that she is not doing anything special this break. She expressed frustration over having an important test soon after it ends. “I have a test on [the following] Tuesday, so I’ll probably be doing homework and studying for a lot of it.” But she’s going to try not to let it affect her ability to relax too much. She said, “I plan on vegging for at least two of the four days. I’m not doing anything in particular, except I’ve been thinking of having a spa day.” When asked what her spa day will entail, Mandala explained, “I was thinking of doing face masks and relaxing, probably by eating ice cream, watching tv, and reading.”
When asked the same question, Eaglesmith said that he’ll be working. “I have an internship under Congressman Schrader and I am a server at Rudy’s steakhouse,” he explained. When noted that that sounds productive, Eaglesmith responded jokingly, “painful is a better synonym.” But he’s also going to try to relax a little. “I produce music on the side, so I'm also working on trying to make that my full time,” he said.
Neither student thinks that four days is a long enough spring break. When asked, Eaglesmith said, “not at all, it’s too short.” Mandala had similar sentiments, and she also elaborated a little further: “It doesn’t feel like a break because of how short it is, especially because of my test, which is going to eat up more of my time than I would prefer.”
COVID-19 has led to many restrictions on travel and outdoor activities in general. When asked if there was anything that she normally would during spring break that she couldn’t because of COVID, Mandala said, “Yeah, I can’t visit family in California. My aunt and uncle and cousins live down there, but I can’t see them this year. It’s too bad.” Eaglesmith said, “I would have probably gone to at least one party or taken my girl out to eat more. But I’m kind of an ambivert [an even mix of introversion and extraversion] so I enjoy grinding on my passions when I’m not working. I would have networked at music events a lot more for sure too.”