In the past, Lehigh’s pacing break has been a two-day break for students, however, to accommodate for the newly introduced Civic Engagement Day in November, pacing break was shortened to one day this semester.
Bryan Lu, ‘22, was surprised to realize that the semester was halfway through already.
“It’s going by pretty fast,” Lu said. “As a senior I feel senioritis already setting in.”
Lu said that although the time is flying, he is not too stressed about it, which is different from past years when he felt more stress as the semester neared the halfway point.
Lu doesn’t have classes on Fridays, so he didn’t feel the effects of a shortened pacing break as much as his younger counterparts may have.
Olivia Albright, an IDEAS major from Scranton, Pennsylvania, was looking forward to pacing break.
“I’m really happy midterms are finally over from last week,” Albright said. “Right now it’s been an overwhelming couple of weeks, probably because I’m a freshman. I had to adjust to being here and making friends on top of doing my classes, so right now I am excited for a break to go home and see my family.”
Albright planned to leave for home on Sunday and come back to school on Monday night or Tuesday morning to maximize her break.
The Lehigh Outing Club also maximized their shortened break.
The Outing Club planned two separate trips — one larger hiking trip to the Adirondack mountains and one eight-person climbing trip to the Shawangunk Mountains over the break.
Henry Price, ‘23, vice president of the Outing Club, led the 24-person Adirondack trip. The group left this past Friday night and returned on Monday night. The large group consisted of three smaller subgroups of eight, each hiking different peaks.
“I’m personally most excited to see all the planning come to fruition and to enable fellow students to experience backpacking the Adirondacks, as it is a really stunning area, especially in the fall,” Price said.
Although he was excited for the trip to the Adirondacks, Price said he wishes the pacing break remained at its previous two-day structure, allowing students another day for their much-needed break.
Price said he understands the decision to hold classes on Tuesday so that students have Nov. 2 off to vote.
“I applaud the university giving election day off to encourage voting,” Price said. “But I wish it didn’t have to come at the cost of a more restful pacing break.”
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