Other memories of long gone breaks seemed to slip like water through my open hand, too. Why had the time passed so unnoticed? Sure, I understand that time actually does pass faster as we age because each increment becomes an increasingly lesser portion of our life, but I knew that there was something more.

     That "something" was, is, and probably will always be a far too busy schedule. I know I’m not the only one to have plans during a break, and I’m not even talking about seeing friends from high school or going to a favorite local spot (neither of which was I able to do over the "long" weekend). I’m talking about errands that have to be run and important events with family: getting the oil changed on your car, a doctor’s appointment, finding and gathering items to take back to school for the winter and upcoming holidays, and celebrating your dad’s retirement.

     This is enough to fill up the mere two days off that we’re allotted, and that would be alright - I can try to see my friends and go to the local spots the next time I’m in - but there’s more. In addition to the aforementioned chores, I had to find time for homework and to study for midterms. Again, I’ll take the hand I was dealt, but the workload doesn’t stop there.

     It has come to the point where we don’t just get a few assignments over break; they are heaped upon us. "Breaks" and weekends are now seen as a time to issue an exceptional amount of schoolwork, because apparently we have nothing else to do in our time off. Keeping in mind that we come to college to earn a degree through hard work, I find that all too often I have more homework during these periods than some weekdays.

     I thought weekends and breaks were meant to serve as respites from the arduous work week.

     Doing hours of homework during the week is enough, but it’s come to the point where weekends and breaks are seen as gaps of ten to hundreds of hours in our schedules just waiting to be filled, so that trying to find time to sleep, eat, work out, and maybe even have a little fun every now and then is categorically unfeasible.

     I can’t even find time to carry out the necessary chores of everyday life during these times, let alone the fact that it’s impossible to do that much work day in and day out without going insane.

     I should be able to see the people I call friends. I should be able to watch the game with my dad for the first time that he doesn’t have to go to work the next day. I should be able to be my cousin’s confirmation sponsor without worrying if I’ll have the time. I should, but if I want to earn good grades, I simply don’t.

     Not to mention that, ironically, the library has incredibly short hours on the weekend.

     Now I expect some of you to disagree with me, especially those issuing the assignments, but to you I pose the following: how much grading, planning, and helping students are you expected to do outside of class time and office hours? I know that professors can just as easily be overloaded by their schedules. They are expected to teach us four months worth of information in multiple classes, help struggling students, and grade mountains of paperwork in equally suppressant time periods, while going to faculty meetings and/or raising a family. Although we all run short on time, the difference is this: when they fall a little behind, we get a break; when we fall behind, we get an F.

     I don’t know if the answer is a decreased quantity of work supplemented by an increase in quality, a return to trimesters to ease up the workload by concentrating the class schedules, or even letting us truly have a day or two off now and again. What I do know is that I deemed my time spent worthwhile writing this article when I’m only taking 12 semester hours this term.

     I’m a senior and my time here will soon be over. Before I leave, I ask on behalf of every overworked student here, please, give me a break.