WOODBURY — Spring break is students’ long-awaited vacation time after a stressful third quarter. Nonnewaug students shift their focus away from their schoolwork and onto the week of free time ahead of them. While some people have a vacation escape planned ahead of them, some prefer to stay home and relax.

“I’m going to Florida for spring break,” says sophomore Ryleigh McDonald. “I’m going down because my grandparents live there.”

“I’m going to Arizona to visit my sister,” says freshman Izzy Zakrzewski. “I prefer to travel for spring break.”

Zakrzewski says that people need to take advantage of their time to travel so they can learn about the world around them.

“It’s good to go places other than where you’re from because you can go places you’ve never been before,” Zakrzewski said. “You have the opportunity to meet new people and friends wherever you’re going and see new sights.”

Of course, the sunshine helps.

“I personally like Arizona the best because I get really tan,” Zakrzewski said with a laugh.

“I prefer to travel on spring break because I like to see different places in the world I’ve never been to,” McDonald says, “but most of the people I know are staying home for break.”

Although many people take spring break as an opportunity to travel, some students, like sophomore Sabrina Myshrall, are spending the entirety of break at home.

“I’m staying home for spring break,” says Myshrall. “However, I like to travel because then it feels like something other than just a long weekend at home.”

Some students who wish to travel during break are tied down by work, sports, and other commitments that require them to stay home.

“I know some people that are traveling,” Myshrall says, “but mainly people are staying here because they have work and really can’t leave.”

Regardless of the destination near or far, students say spring break is an important opportunity to destress before the home stretch of the school year.

“It’s definitely worth it to take spring break somewhere else, though,” Zakrzewski says. “It’s so fun to travel somewhere else and forget about school and all of the stress.”