Winter break ended the moment alarms went off on Tuesday morning, sending students scrambling to dust off their backpacks and relocate their folders. It was a brutal goodbye to a break that passed far too quickly.
Break may have flown by, but students made the most of it. Some traveled, some binge-watched TV and some doomscrolled late into the night, only to sleep past noon. Regardless of productivity level, everyone returned to school with a story to tell.
For some students, the break was an opportunity to get out of town and trade everyday routines for something new.
“Over the break, I traveled to Angel Fire, N.M.,” senior Lauryn McCue said. “We went skiing.”
Others rang in the new year away from home, celebrating with sand instead of snow as the calendar flipped to 2026.
“I made it to midnight on New Year’s Eve,” senior Jackie Smith said. “I was in Gulf Shores, Ala., so we were on the beach, and we got some fireworks and blew them up. We also did some sparklers on the beach, so it was really fun.”
Not everyone spent their break on the move, though, as many students found themselves glued to their phones once school responsibilities were out of the picture.
“I definitely spent most of my screen time scrolling on TikTok,” junior Kidist Lydick said. “I’m kind of a doom scroller.”
For others, screen time came in the form of keeping up with the newest season of the show everyone seems to be talking about.
“I watched ‘Stranger Things’ over break,” junior Ella Moore said. “People are saying the finale wasn’t good, but I disagree. The fighting scenes were bad, but emotionally it was great, and I ended the episode happy.”
Some students spent their time watching a much bigger screen, staying up-to-date on the newest movie releases.
“I watched ‘Marty Supreme,’ and honestly, I thought it was fantastic,” junior Heather Taber said. “I was locked in the entire movie. I’ve also heard about how complex the production process was, and it showed.”
As entertaining as screens can be, big or small, there are some parts of the school that they just can’t replace.
“I missed my friends,” freshman Vivian Terry said. “I didn’t get to see them at all over break, and I was so bored. I was just scrolling all day, and I could physically feel my brain rotting.”
In the end, the break gave students time to slow down and think about what they were most excited to return to.
“I missed playing in a music ensemble,” senior Eli Everett said. “Playing music with other people is a completely different feeling from playing on your own. It connects you to your fellow musicians and is a truly enriching experience. I didn’t expect to miss it so much, but I thought about those experiences a lot over break.”
