At the end of the fall semester this year Eastern Illinois University decided to not have a spring break due to COVID-19.

Eastern students shared their thoughts on how they felt about the university cancelling their spring break.

Asher Roper, a senior majoring in graphic design, and Jessica Nantes, a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism, both said that they were disappointed when they first found out about it being canceled.

They both mentioned that the cancelation of spring break had an effect on their ability to learn in the middle part of the spring semester.

“It would have helped to have that week off and it would have been nice to be able to have a break away from school to refresh my mind,” said Nantes.

“It has affected my learning strongly,” said Roper. “There were many times when I needed a mental break from school and yet not having a full week off had drained my abilities to perform well in school.”

Nantes and Clayton Young, a junior majoring in mathematics, both said that it was ‘overwhelming’ at times since they did not have a full week off from school.

To substitute the traditional spring break schedule, Eastern had five ‘wellness days’ throughout the semester where students and faculty would have a full day without any classes.

Nantes said that it was tough to enjoy the wellness days because they were all in the middle of the week and there were still assignments that had to be completed on those days.

Young also explained his thoughts on the wellness days that were put in place this semester.

“I’m glad that we got the wellness days and for me they have been nice,” said Young. “But I have a lot of friends that still have homework that’s due on the wellness days or they spend their wellness day doing homework.”

Roper said that the wellness days ‘were not good enough’ because each of them were spread throughout the semester.

Despite not having a spring break all of the students said that they understood the purpose of why the university decided to cancel it, but that they feel as if in the future the faculty should come up with a way to include the students when making the decision.

The students also felt that the ‘credit no credit’ option being taken away this semester was unfair.

Roper said that it just does not make any sense that students cannot have the option of credit no credit considering that it has been a part of the school system for years.

Erykah Walker, a sophomore majoring in psychology, mentioned that it is unfortunate that the university has made this decision, especially while most courses are virtual.

“It’s very unfortunate,” said Walker. “That’s something in the past that helped people cope with this huge transition not only in school, but in life and I think that it should remain permanent.”

Brysen Carr can be reached at 581-2812 or bdcarr2@eiu.edu.