Fall break this year gave us the Friday of Oct. 14. However, we were not given the Monday prior off on Oct. 10, which was Columbus Day, now also known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Many public schools and even universities had this day off from classes. Though we were still given a day off, just later, it would have been much more beneficial to be given the Monday off like so many other places. 

I left Oswego on Oct. 13, a Thursday, excited for my first visit back home since the very beginning of the semester. I arrived back to my hometown late that day, but when I woke up Friday morning, my house was empty. Because it was not the national holiday, my younger sister was at school, both of my parents were at work and my brother, a freshman in college, had yet to return because he had class that day. My break, my first chance to reconnect with my family since the very beginning of August, held nothing but loneliness. So the time was used for less exciting and less restful things: a visit to the doctor and to the mechanic.

My time with my family was cut short by having to return the next day and thus, I barely got to see them before I was back on my way.

Giving students Oct. 10 off, the actual national holiday, would be massively beneficial for social connections and visits home. It would mean students could enjoy the time off with family members who are likely to have it off as well. It factors out to the exact same amount of time as well; essentially, students would have one long weekend. Moving the day off would not require the college to give students any more time, it would just function differently.

Using Oct. 10 as the day off of classes would also mean that there would be a bigger gap between the long weekend and Family and Friends weekend. This would leave one weekend in between, but right now, students who both traveled home and whose family might be visiting will see them back to back. Having a weekend in between would give either students or parents a moment to decompress between trips to campus, especially if it is a significant distance.

Ultimately, the change of schedule to give students Columbus Day off would not make a big difference to academic function, but could have improved the lives of students, potentially allowing them more time at home with their families.