As you might have noticed, spring break is now upon us. I'm sure some students will go off with Alternative Spring Break and help out needy communities. A few more might stay on campus or go home. There might even be a small minority going off to Tijuana or the Yucatan to discover how Mexico got its reputation. Of course, there's Florida, Jamaica and the Bahamas — a little more on “the relaxing/drink until your heart rate slows alarmingly” side. No matter what, the theory of spring break is that it is in fact a vacation; however, the practicalities can become a little complicated.

For those of you who have professors who thought it was reasonable to assign homework due the Monday after the break — I'd say I feel sorry for you, but I'm in the same position myself. I'll probably be the one awkwardly trying to carry a thermodynamics book and a calculator along with my luggage in the Nashville International Airport terminal. Look on the bright side: You'll have nine days to procrastinate instead of a couple. It's a poor tradeoff, but liquor pong and homework are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

As I mentioned earlier, a few of you might be staying on campus or going home, which is essentially the same thing. Thanks to our early break, none of your friends from high school will be at home, and no one will be on campus. You'll effectively be isolated, unable to do much. Assuming you don't live in the hinterlands of Nebraska, there are always bars to visit (same with Nashville if you stay at school). For those of you who do live in the hinterlands, I'm deeply and truly sorry. There's always next year, and more importantly, there's always moonshine (available at your nearest illegal distillery).

Now, I've been to Mexico before, but not for spring break. I was just relaxing on/near the beach in the early fall in Cancun. I wasn't trying to buy a half-ounce of heroin in Tijuana or trying to avoid getting murdered in Juarez. Hell, I wasn't even in the sketchy part of Cancun. I must've been at least three miles from Senor Frogs, and no one even tried to proposition me (that did happen in Key West once, but that’s a different story).

The Bahamas are always nice but expensive. Jamaica might be cheaper; unfortunately, the country seems to lack a coherent legal structure, and you might want to bring your own security guard. As for Florida — well it's in the U.S., which means it's actually frowned upon if you get wildly intoxicated in public, not to mention it's technically illegal (but only technically).

In the end, it hardly matters where you go. One way or another, you'll get a week off from any serious work and perhaps you'll even find something that's somewhat entertaining. So go forth and prosper, the next week is already here.

Thomas Shattuck is a sophomore in the School of Engineering. He can be reached at thomas.w.shattuck@vanderbilt.edu.