How to Spend Spring Break as a Teacher

18 Things I did over spring break this year.

I

Travel to Quebec with your parents to explore family history. Eat nearly no Canadian cuisine. Pizza. Burgers. More pizza. Some poutine. Challenge yourself to speak French — especially at your last stop at a diner, where they don’t speak English. At least use “Bonjour,” “Bonne journée,” “Je voudrais…,” and “Merci.” Do what you can.

II

Exercise. You may be tempted to skip a week of your routine. Don’t. You’ll feel better if you keep going. Run a mile one day. Walk on the nature trail for five miles a few days. Explore the world. Plan your next training program.

III

Go on a date. Or two. With the same girl. Watch Sausage Party on Saturday and Nuremberg on Monday. Enjoy compliments from this gorgeous girl. Bring her to meet your parents and friends. Be impressed by her ability to sync in. She’s brave.

IV

Watch your parents teach your friends how to make wine. Play a marble game. Relish in the laughter. Make as much eye contact as you can. Share hugs. Go to sleep with a smile. Wake up early to eat egg casserole and pastries.

V

Get out of the bubble in which your school sits — go anywhere. Out of country. Domestic. Hell, visit your hometown. When you do come back, get outside — even when it’s 30 degrees — for a little five-mile walk.

VI

Get your car inspected. New oil change. Complain about the suspension job that ruined your brakes.

VII

On your way back to the bubble, don’t forget your metal detector so that you can go detecting with a new friend who works at the gym.

VIII

Catch up on blog posts. Journal. Do tarot readings for yourself and others. Take pictures of nature. Use those as the foundation for stories or blog posts.

IX

Play some video games. A staycation should be partly productive, and a healthy portion of do whatever the hell you want. And if you want to stay up until 11 one night playing games, do it.

X

But try to keep a pretty good sleep routine, so that when you go back to teaching, it’s not that difficult.

XI

Prior to vacation, it’s a good idea to get all your lesson planning done for when you’re back. Having failed this objective, suck it up and take a couple of hours to plan the first week back.

XII

Eat healthy. Shoot for your protein goal. If you don’t make it every day, that’s okay. Eat a little unhealthily. Feel free to treat yourself to ice cream, beer, and peanut butter.

XIII

Practice being present in the moment. Listen to the various bird calls. Hear and feel the wind brushing past your ear, like that girl did when she kissed your neck.

XIV

Talk to friends. On the phone, through letters, in person. Try to reach out to people you haven’t seen in a while. If that’s not possible, talk to the people whom you talk to regularly.

XV

Spend time alone. Read. Keep writing. Walk more. Catch up on shows. Think. You can do all sorts of things alone. Just enjoy your own company. If you struggle with that, find people who compliment you. Make sure that it’s sincere. You can usually tell.

XVI

Be grateful. Even for the snow that graces the ground, once more, when you thought that spring was finally here. How it crunches underfoot, collapses from trees as it melts, and paints the landscape in various densities.

XVII

Try to fit in one more date before school begins.

XVIII

On your last weekend, go out with a bang. Attend your college friend’s bachelor party. It’s been 10 years since you graduated. Escape room, bar hopping, and probably reminiscing quite a bit. But also creating new memories.

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