Students Share Their Favorite Spring Break Memories

Photos and story by Aubry Healy

Spring break has once again come and gone. Whether you went on a hiking expedition in the mountains, sprawled out on a sandy beach or cocooned on your couch for a week,we can all agree spring Break is a much needed pause from the stresses of classes and extracurricular activities.

These Central Michigan University students share what made their spring break memorable.

Aren Milligan traveled to Destin, FL for spring break and made the trip from Destin to Panama Beach.

“The most beautiful moment of my spring break was when I went to a crab shack on Panama City Beach and ate the best blackened tilapia I’ve ever had. I then played the most epic game of beach volleyball of all time,” Milligan said.

Ludington senior Ali Irwin traveled to Orlando, Florida where she visited The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios with her mother and sister, whom she is very close to.

“Walking around Diagon Alley in Universal Studios with my mom and my sister was the highlight of my break,” Irwin said.

Portage senior Brandon Darsow spent his Spring Break planning the upcoming March for Our Lives event to take place March 24 at 1 p.m. at Island Park in Mount Pleasant.

“My favorite part would probably be sitting down and having coffee with the Mayor,” Darsow said. “She was so down to earth and really genuinely interested in what we were doing.”

Manistee senior Brianna Walter traveled to Immokalee Florida to volunteer at Highlands Elementary School for Alternative Breaks as a site leader.

“My favorite memory was during our last day volunteering at Highlands Elementary, a Leader in Me Lighthouse School. It was like a scene straight out of a movie to wrap up a rewarding week,” Walter said.

Traverse City sophomore Jake Hendricks traveled back home to spend a relaxing spring break with hometown friends.

“My favorite memory of spring break was going back home to see all my friends and family,” said Hendricks. “Especially my friends who also went off to college. One of them happens to be a Bronco, but we’re still cool!”

Waterford senior Kaley Bates traveled home for a relaxing spring break with her family.

“My fave memory was hanging out with my family and my mom made spaghetti so we started listening to ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem and yelling moms spaghetti,” Bates said.

Lafayette, IN sophomore Shane Guenin went camping with his roommates over spring break.

[His favorite memory was] “romping through the woods and along stream beds, and we came over this hill, and there’s a building there. And that’s real strange, see, because there’s not a building on the map. We’re looking at it, and there’s a huge fence around the place, barbed wire and everything. I’m about to start heading the other direction, but my roommates start walking right toward it. There’s a back gate completely wide open. I’m thinking, ‘we found a nuclear bunker and some quasi governmental military is going to come out and shoot us’ and my roommates are thinking, ‘let’s go explore.’ I start heading back toward camp and they walk in and an alarm starts going off. We hightailed it out of there and are hoping the FBI isn’t looking for us.”

Onaway senior Emilee Madison spent her spring break in St. Louis, Missouri volunteering for Nutritional Support for Health Recovery through the Alternative Breaks program.

“My favorite part was being able to connect with clients of food outreach and help alleviate some of the struggles they are experiencing. On top of volunteering every day of the week we got to experience the culture of St.Louis and it’s rich history. I also got to spend my birthday there!”