It’s always refreshing to wake up to another beautiful morning with the sun pouring over the Tempe campus like great rivers pour into oceans. Hiking up the bridge overlooking University Drive and leading to Palm Walk, I realize how warm it’s getting.

We no longer need jeans and a sweater to go to class in the morning, and people are starting to tan at the pools in preparation for spring break.

It makes me wonder why anyone would want to leave Arizona for spring break — the weather is better here than almost anywhere else.

Spring break is always a landmark in the course of a year, because after it’s over, we have hit the final stretch before summer. With this newfound vision for the end of the year, it also marks the breaking point. We can either finish strong or throw in the towel, which, of course, implies that we haven’t already given up.

The lyrics to Asher Roth’s “I Love College” pounding in my head — “I wanna go to college for the rest of my life /
Sip Banker’s Club and drink Miller Lite /
On thirsty Thursday and Tuesday night ice /
And I can get pizza a dollar a slice, so fill up my cup … ” — I can’t help but wonder what would possibly be a sufficient vacation from college.

MSNBC.com reported that, according to Patrick Evans of STA Travel, “Cancun and Jamaica are top destinations for spring breakers. … Some 30,000 revelers are expected to visit the beach spot in Mexico this year.”

You would think with the current economic situation that college students might be going home to see family and save money, but according to the Chicago Sun Times, “College students don’t seem to be planning ‘staycations’ for spring break. … A lot of times kids will go no matter what.”

Despite this counterintuitive notion, the creative and efficient minds we have been developing all year are paying off. Many students are choosing to ride the party bus to the beach this year instead of flying.

Either way, this is what we do. We flee to the beach and forget about homework, studying, tests, teachers and grades. We bare our bodies that we have been working to tone up during the most popular time to be in the weight room, from the beginning of second semester to right before spring break.

Sitting in my dorm room pondering what to do with my spring break, I found it easy to blend into the walls surrounding me.

As the word “institutionalized” takes on new context, I’ll probably just end up instinctively herding toward a beach with my friends like birds fly south for the winter.

Reach Houston at hfriend1@asu.edu.