From the perspective of this college professor, I tend to like the end of the semester. We are wrapping up our work. We have spent weeks talking together and considering readings. We have learned and put into practice knowledge and skills. And, perhaps most importantly, the final work – whether exams or papers or discussions – demonstrate how students have grown from the beginning of the course to the end.

And then we start over again. In the middle of the school year, this involves several weeks off. In the summer, this involves months. The class process starts again, sometimes from the very beginning in some classes and sometimes building off what you and students did in the previous semester.

This is a rhythm and cycle I am very familiar with after being in college/university settings for over half of my life. It can be exhausting and life-giving. It can be both in the same semester, depending on courses and contexts. It will continue ad infinitum whether I am involved with it or not.

May all who have an upcoming break from school find it to actually be a break.