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Instead of packing bathing suits and board shorts to relax under the sun in Cancún, Mexico, these Syracuse University students have decided to skip the cesspool of college students partying at all-inclusive resorts. They will spend the week visiting their families abroad, completing research projects, networking with film enthusiasts and going on outdoor adventures.

Thomas Brossi, a fourth-year architecture student and the vice president of the SU Outing Club, will spend spring break on the club’s annual 10-day trip to Franklin, West Virginia. Club members plan to carpool down to Thorn Spring Park from Syracuse and then take part in an adventurous week filled with mountain biking, caving, rock climbing, backpacking and more.

“(The Outing Club) has been doing it for a long time,” Brossi said of the trip. “I think this is our 48th or 49th year of going down to West Virginia.”

Brossi said he’s excited about leading the excursion’s mountain biking trips for the first time now that he’s qualified to do so. After two years of canceled spring break trips due to the pandemic, Outing Club members will get a chance to have fun and spend quality time together.

“Everything feels super safe, and you’re welcome to try anything or not try anything at all. But I think that’s what makes it really special,” Brossi said.

Sophomore studying citizenship and civic engagement Nicky Kim said she will be traveling internationally to Ecuador to see her mom and sister, who have recently moved there for her mother’s teaching job.

Kim said is looking forward to exploring the city, spending time with her family and going to different outdoor markets.

“I will be flying alone to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and will be there for 10 days,” Kim said. “I’m looking forward to a break from all the crazy social activity that goes on here.”

Many of Kim’s friends will be going to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, or Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for break. Kim said that she would love to go to an all-inclusive resort, but that type of trip will always be an option. Ecuador is something unique.

“I will always be able to go on a quintessential Cabo college trip. Right now it’s not something I can afford, and I wanted to experience something completely different and be a little more independent,” Kim said.

Back in the U.S., Maria Gomes, a second-year architecture student, will be traveling domestically for a road trip through California. Gomes and two friends are flying to Los Angeles, California, and then driving up north.

She said she plans to visit other friends, enjoy the weather and stop at trendy restaurants along the way.

“We are starting south in Santa Monica and then going to Napa Valley and ending up in San Francisco,” Gomes said.

Gomes expressed her desire for spring break to be much longer so she could come back from her trip and relax, rather than jumping right back into the swing of school.

On the other hand, Gloria Gress, a freshman in the Bandier program, said a weeklong break is a perfect amount of time to take a quick trip with friends without taking too much time away from school.

Next week, Gress will travel to Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest (SXSW) to explore and network with people in the tech, film and music industry.

SXSW is an annual conglomerate of conferences and festivals featuring keynotes, panels of leaders from many distinct sectors, film screenings, comedy shows, a music festival showcase and a variety of interactive exhibitions.

“I am so excited to meet a bunch of people in all different kinds of industries. South By Southwest is full of artists and creatives who want to showcase their work and meet people,” Gress said. “I am also excited to get away from the Syracuse dining halls and the terrible weather.”

Instead of venturing off campus, Emily Ortega, a first-year graduate student studying forensic chemistry, will be staying in snowy Syracuse to work on a research project with Professor Michael B. Sponsler.

Ortega’s project involves making polyacetylene chains in inclusion crystals. She’ll be working with urea, a naturally occurring molecule found in urine, to perform tests that allow inclusion crystals to remain straight instead of the crystals cross linking onto other properties.

“It’s a really interesting project and it’s organic chemistry based, which is something I really liked in undergrad,” Ortega said. “Dr. Sponsler needs me to make the starting material and make the chains in the crystals. Actually being able to do this stuff in a lab is very exciting.”

Ortega explained that she does have some FOMO because most of her friends are traveling to warm places to bask in the sun, while she’ll be working in a lab. But, she feels like a week away from her normal routine will still feel like a break.

“I will be doing something I love so it won’t even feel like work,” Ortega said. “The hours are very different from my normal schedule and I think I will have a very peaceful time staying here.”

Published on March 10, 2022 at 12:53 am