Students recall break experiences

By Maggie Denison and Laura Wolpert
Norwich Guidon Staff Writers

As the Northeast got blasted with harsh winds and the threat of never-ending snow, popular warm weather vacation spots were preparing for the heavy flow of college students looking to escape the winter cold.

Several groups of students went together to such exotic locations as Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Cancun. Senior Marc Cole enjoyed a week in the sun on the shores of Cancun.

"It was great. My rook buddies and some of our friends just all got together and went through a student travel organization," said Cole, 22, a senior from Portland, Me. "We actually got a really good deal."

Another popular destination was Florida and the shores of Daytona Beach.

"My friends and I got down and kissed the sand at Daytona Beach," said Mike Presti, 20, a computer information systems and business management double major from Bedford, Mass. "We have our break a week before other schools, so we were the only ones there."

As a storm quickly passed the Florida coast to hit the Northeast, it brought relatively cool temperatures to Central Florida. "The people from Florida thought we were crazy," Presti said. "They thought it was cold out."

Having car trouble in Massachusetts didn't stop Kyle Blaikie, Adam Medina, and Laurent Felizardo from getting to their final destination.

"Adam's car broke down, but he called a friend at a nearby college and we spent the night there," said Felizardo, 20, a computer information systems major from Fort Washington, Md. "We ended up getting to my house in Maryland two days later."

Pictures with the natives, a stereo sold for food money and a chipped front tooth is all Mark Winker has to show for his time in Cancun, Mexico.

"My friend and I had over $600 stolen from us at the hotel," said Winker, 20, a sophomore communications major from Nashville, Tenn. "We think our maid was the thief."

Winker's group had to sell his stereo at a Mexican flea market for food money. To avoid boredom, Winker and his buddies saw the cultural side of Mexico. "We took pictures of the natives wherever we went," Winker said.

Some students were not lucky enough to be able to escape the storm that hit the Northeast.

"It was pretty bad. Once it started snowing I didn't think it would stop, and it definitely put an end to any plans for the beginning of the week," said Kim Taylor, 19, a freshman nursing major from Derry, NH.

When it was time for Scott Ducharme, a freshman at Ithaca College, to come home, the weather changed his situation for the worse.

His break began on Friday, Mar. 9, the same weekend that New England was hit by a smaller, but still handicapping, storm.

"My parents were supposed to pick me up on Friday after my classes, but due to the weather I had to take a bus. And to beat the weather I had to leave on Thursday," Ducharme said.

Warm weather destinations were a place to have fun and kick back to relax, but others found teaming up with friends to go clubbing in more wintery locations was equally fun.

"I went to clubs in New York City with my friends," said Emmanuel Diaz, 19, an electrical engineering major from Greenwich, Conn.

But for other students, they didn't get to their choice of spring break destinations.

"I was supposed to go to New Orleans to visit friends," said Rob Vincent, 23, a civil engineer major from Jefferson, N.J. "I ended up not going because the storm was so hyped up that I thought I would get caught in the middle of it."

"I was snowed in at my house for two and a half days due to the storm," said Christopher Ward, 19, a freshman criminal justice major from Marshfield, Mass., "I caught up on sleep and watched a lot of TV."

According to Jason Raposa, a 20-year-old communications major from Bedford, Mass., many Norwich students were "trapped in Vermont" for spring break because of all the snow.

Other students had difficult times on their way to their vacations.

The lacrosse team headed off to Pennsylvania to practice and scrimmage, but the weather turned them around after a night in the hotel.

"Because of the threat of snow, we had to go back," said Darrell Doucette, 21, a chemistry and criminal justice double major from Newton, Mass., "After that I just went home."

Many plans fell through as threats of a raging storm, or lack of funds, loomed as the break got closer.

For Diaz, a vacation to Florida, the Bahamas, and Mexico got canceled when his friends canceled out on him.

"They spent their money on something else, so they didn't have enough for the cruise," he said.

For many, spring break was not long enough. "A few more days off would have been nice," Presti said, "But we have to come back eventually."

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