UC Berkeley Web Feature

What did you do for Spring Break?

By Bonnie Azab Powell, NewsCenter | 29 March 2004

Spring Break is a time to relax and party for most college students, as captured by a multitude of MTV specials. But UC Berkeley students are famous for their diversity, and that carries over even into their leisure time. Here's how a random sample of students spent their week off. Comment

'I spent the week in a monastery in Ukiah; I just came back last night. It's called the City of a Thousand Buddhas, and it's free to stay there, although you can donate if you want. I went there to attend the ceremonies and events; I spent a lot of time meditating, but I also helped with about 100 students from Humboldt University who came to learn about the monastery. I've been there many times since I started going last year. It's a nice change — it's a different world, where everything is very slow-paced and serene.' —Jonathan Choo, third-year English and Chinese Studies major from Singapore

'I just stayed at home in Santa Monica, pretty much. I spent time with friends and family, did a little shopping. I didn't really want to go anywhere. Sometimes home is the best place to be.' —Dalia Yadegar, first-year prospective political science and statistics major, from Santa Monica, CA

'I went to the beach in Santa Cruz and Point Reyes, but I basically played Age of Empire 2 the whole break. It's a simulated-society game for six to eight people that you play on a PC. You go through four ages — the Dark Ages through the Imperial Age — building up stockpiles of gold and wood, working with your villagers. We played it for about 10 hours every day. It's addictive.' —Hetwarth Italia, transfer student intending to major in science and/or math, from Los Angeles, CA

'I was organizing in Berkeley's public schools, working with parents to mobilize the community to defend their voluntary school desegregation plan. We had a great Town Hall meeting on Saturday. I was putting up flyers and talking to people in the schools about the rally this Thursday at the Oakland courthouse to protest a lawsuit that wants to end integration in Berkeley's public schools.' —Yvette Felarca, graduate student in education and member of the activist group BAMN

'I was here training for track. I'm a high jumper. We practiced every day for four hours, running different plyometric drills like bounding over barriers, then I did weights for an hour. There was a meet on Saturday. It was a pretty difficult week of training, not really a spring break for us — not like living it up in Cancun.' —David Glasgow, fourth-year history major from Merced, CA

'I went to New York and Puerto Rico with my mom. We were shopping for outfits for Miss Teenage California. It's my first pageant — there's a $10,000 college scholarship at stake. It's not your typical beauty pageant; there's no swimsuit portion. I found an evening gown and a business suit for the interview. We had fun in San Juan. Even though it rained the whole time, it was beautiful.' —Elizabeth Bolton, first-year prospective English major from New York

'I went to Newport Beach, CA for four days. I'm an exchange student from Howard University in Washington, DC. This is my first trip to California; I'm here for about eight months. We went to Balboa Island, and L.A. for the day, as well as just hung out on the beach. The weather was perfect; it was so relaxing.' —Angela Hays, third-year political science and painting major from Harleysville, PA

'The most exciting thing I did was spend time with my 2-year-old niece, along with my mom and three sisters. With all the budget cuts and the stress at school about midterms coming, focusing on my family really pumped the spirit back into me. It's good to remind yourself of where you come from.' —Ricardo Valencia. third-year ethnic studies major from Santa Monica, CA