Eastern students coming back from spring break found time to relax, be adventurous and prepare for the final stretch of the semester.

Dymine Dorsey, an Andrews resident and desk assistant and senior English major, said she went to New Orleans a week after Mardi Gras with two friends.

Dorsey and her friends went on a haunted tour, a dessert tour at several restaurants, a World War II Museum, the Café Du Monde and they all walked around the French Quarter, she said.

Her favorite part of the trip was the World War II Museum because of how huge it was, Dorsey said.

She and her friends also took a 12-hour train ride to Jackson, Mississippi from Mattoon. From Jackson, they took a four-hour bus ride to New Orleans, Dorsey said.

“A total of 16 hours each way,” Dorsey said. “That’s 32 hours of my life I will never get back.”

The group was in New Orleans for only part of spring break—Saturday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon, she said.

Dorsey and her friends also learned a valuable lesson about booking an Airbnb, she said.

“Be careful where you book an Airbnb.” Dorsey said.

The group stayed at its booked Airbnb condo for about six hours.

“Most of those six hours we weren’t even in the Airbnb,” Dorsey said.

The group dropped its luggage off at the place before exploring the city, and when they came back around 9 p.m., there was a huge cockroach on the couch, she said. The couch was where one of Dorsey’s friends was supposed to sleep, Dorsey said.

“The cockroach was as long as my pointer finger.” Dorsey said.

The group did not let that the cockroach stop them from having a great trip, so they loaded their luggage up and went to a hotel, she said.

With regards to the rest of the spring semester, Dorsey said she is going to take things a little slower and more relaxed.

“I feel as though I should live my life like I’m on vacation, meaning I should go on vacation more,” Dorsey said.

Sofija Stanic, a resident at Stevenson Hall, said she also traveled a distance for spring break.

“I went to San Francisco to visit a friend; plus, I had never been there, so I went to visit and see the city,” Stanic said. She took a 4½-hour flight.

Stanic said she saw the Golden Gate Bridge, the park, the Fine-Arts Palace and Lombard Street.

Her favorite part about spring break was taking a break from school, she said.

“It was nice not having homework, I guess, to relax,” Stanic said.

Now that she is back from break, she said she is prepared to finish the semester strong.

“I was tired before, but now I feel like I have more energy,” she said.

As some students traveled out of state, others stayed and relaxed at home.

Brian Yard, a Ford Hall resident assistant and junior music education major, said he went to his mother’s home in Naperville.

“There was a whole lot of sleeping involved. I also went shopping, managed to replace my wardrobe. I spent a lot of time with my nieces, which was really great, and (I got) individual time with all of them, which is not the easiest thing to do,” Yard said.

He feels his spring break was definitely a chance for him to refocus, he said.

“It was a time for me to collect my thoughts and really get myself ready for the final push—start making a way to reorganize to make that push,” Yard said.

Yard left the day after the halls closed, he said, and he had to be back by 10 a.m. on Sunday.

As Yard was going through closing procedures, he said he noticed every resident room had a distinct and separate smell.

Yard said he also noticed that his residents’ rooms reflected their personalities. The ways each room is decorated and organized says a lot about each resident, he said.

“Every time we do these room checks, we do get insight on how the people are doing,” he said.

Katelyn Eddington can be reached at 581-2812 or at keddington@eiu.edu.