March 31, 2026 • 36 mins
Our Advisory Council members, Fatima, Jya, and Mikayla joined us this week for a lively and insightful group chat about what Spring Break really looks like at different stages of the college journey. They also discussed Black Spring Break Houston; the joy, the community, and the misconceptions; and how to approach it with safety, intention, and authenticity. We also talked about the financial realities of Spring Break, how to resist the pressure to keep up with social media aesthetics, and how to use this time off as a meaningful mental health reset.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Hey, y'all, thanks so much for joining me for another
episode of Therapy for Black Girl's University. We'll get right
to our conversation after a word from our sponsors. In
a special spring Break edition of Therapy for Black Girl's University,
(00:28):
I sat down with our advisory council for a lively
and insightful group chat about what spring break really looks
like at different stages of the college journey. Jaya, a sophomore,
shared her excitement and curiosity as she's still figuring out
what spring break means for her. Fatima, a senior, reflected
on navigating the pressure to make the most of her
last college spring break while staying grounded in what she
(00:49):
truly wants. And MICHAELA, a recent graduate, offered wisdom about
transitioning out of the college bubble and redefining rest fund
and boundaries in adulthood. Together, we chatted about the culture
around black spring break, Houston, the joy community, and misconceptions
how to approach spring break safely, with intention and authenticity.
(01:13):
We also talked about the financial realities of spring break,
how to resist the pressure to keep up with social
media aesthetics, and how to use this time off as
a meaningful mental health recent If something resonates with you
while enjoying our conversation, please share with us on social
media using the hashtag TVG in Session. Here's our conversation.
(01:36):
I am very excited to be back with our TVGU
Council today. Ladies, would you please start us off by
introducing yourselves again and letting us know what school you're representing.
We'll start with you. Fatima, Hi, everyon.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
My name is Fatima.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I'm a senior at Toft University and I study political science.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Jaya Hi, everyone, my name is Jyron named Bacon, and
I am a sophomore at the unsinkable Albany State University.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
And Michaelah.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
My name is MICHAELA and I'm a graduate of Dillard University.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
So we're very excited. The weather is getting better outside,
sunshine has returned to our lives, and many of you
are preparing for a spring break. So what does spring
break mean to each of you at this stage in
your academic journey? So, Fatima, you are preparing for maybe
your last spring break, well definitely as an undergrad. So
what is spring break feeling like to you right now?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I actually just came back from spring break, And I
feel like for most people spring break is about like vacationing,
getting out the country and taking trips. But for me personally,
especially because I'm about to graduate, there's just a lot
going on and a lot to figure out because of
uncertainty about postgrad. For me, spring break was a time
(02:50):
for me to just reset, recharge, and just catch a break.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
So that's where I'm at.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Got it? And what about you, Jaiya, how are you
feeling about the pacing of spring break now that you
are a sophomore?
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Yeah, so my spring rate ended two weeks ago, and
with every break, I agree with Fatima. I just take
that time to rest. I don't do much. I don't
go to Daytona, I don't party. I just sleep all
the time.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
And MICHAELA, this is your first year without necessarily an
official kind of spring break, right, So what it feel
like for you to not have that built in kind
of time off.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yes, it's definitely treaking, some giving news to I think
having the kind of leisure and type of vacation built in.
I miss it definitely. Because I supposed to graduate, I'm working,
and so those little things are things that I don't
really think about when exiting college, and you know, I
(03:48):
did still get to, you know, get in touch with
on my friends who are still in college and kind
of see what's going on and spring break and whatnot.
But yeah, it's different. It's cool, but yeah, good time still.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Okay. So, Fatima and Jaya, you both mentioned that you
did not use the spring break this year as an
opportunity to get out and party. You really used it
as a reset and like, Okay, let me just maybe
catch up on some things and me kind of collect
my breath. Is there any feelings of like, oh gosh,
like I missed out, Like we're other friends traveling and
doing maybe more fun things, or how are you navigating
(04:22):
kind of watching maybe other people do the Daytona Jaya
you mentioned, or like the partying versus you kind of
just stay in put this year.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
For me, I don't necessarily feel like I missed out
on anything because I don't like big crowds. With this
spring break, I am in the semester right before nursing school,
so I'm preparing to take my teas, so it has
been a lot of studying on my end. So being
able to go home and just sit down and rest
and recollect my thoughts. I got a break that I
didn't know I needed because in college I'm so used
(04:53):
to be an oncle that when I really got time
to sit down, I was like, hmm, I was actually
always working. I needed this breaksit myself.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
And for me, I did get a bit of fomo
because especially because I'm in my senior year, so I
was like, I'm going to look back at this and
regret that i didn't do it. But for me, I
think what was really important was stepping back and looking
at the bigger picture and understanding that I'm not in
a race with anyone and this is really just about
(05:24):
my mental wellbeing and my physical wellbeing. And I feel
like it also gives me something to work more towards,
because now the idea I have for myself is that, Okay,
for graduation and for my birthday, which is in June,
like four weeks out from grad, I'm going to do
it big. I'm going to treat myself. So I think
(05:45):
I'm coping well.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Nice, nice. So you know, back in my days, so
to speak, all we had were like stories to tell
about like what we did on spring break? Right, are
what friends did on their spring breaks in years past
and even in current years, and now you all have
so much social media. There's so much technology, so many
different ways to document what's happening. If you think about
(06:09):
like the time you spend in college and McHale, the
time that you know, the years you spend in college,
how do you feel like social media has impacted our
influence the ways that you think about spring break?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I think social media has definitely created an image of
what spring break I guess quote unquote should look like.
And it's contrary to what both Giant Fatima said, just
kind of the recharging and recentering type of vibe, because
I feel like our generation like we're working really hard
(06:39):
because there's a lot of things and uncertainties that we
have to navigate, especially in that last year a couple
of years before you graduate slash postgrad, right, And so
I think the image that has created is like this
hard line between okay, recharging and recentoring and the partying.
(06:59):
But I think the image it's kind of changed over time.
I think now it's like party, party, party, don't sleep,
But the reality might be something more closer than two.
I'm gonna recharge, I'm gonna move into something fun and small,
maybe like a day trip, but mostly we still have
(07:19):
school next week, so that sort of thing. That's how
I actually spent my last two spring breaks. So but yeah,
I think it's changed depending on what we've seen.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Mm hmm. Anybody else have thoughts about social media and
how it has influenced spring break culture so to speak?
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yes, so, at least from my perspective, I think social
media gives the impression that spring break is supposed to
be this big, grand thing, like these huge group chips.
Like I know one friend group in my city. They somehow,
I don't know how the trip made it out the
(07:57):
group chat, but they gathered twenty college students and they
all stood in one villa in dr and they posted
a lot of pictures. It seemed like they had a
really great time. But for someone like me or other
people who didn't do much for spring break, it can
ruin your perception of what it's supposed to be of.
Is this supposed to be a time for me to
(08:19):
rest or? Is this supposed to be a picture perfect
trip where I'm taking pictures. I have this like a
friend group of fifteen twenty people. So I think social
media definitely amplifies the expectations of what spring break is
supposed to look like. Rather than it being a time
for rest, it's depicted to be more of a time
of partying, which is nothing wrong with it, but yeah,
(08:41):
definitely social media plays a big role in that.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yes, I definitely agree with both Fatima and Mikayla. Going
back to what you said about fear and missing out,
I feel that social media plays a part in other
students with that. They feel like they have to be
at the parties, they have to be at the beaches,
they have to take the pictures, and they don't necessarily
feel like they need to recharge. They feel like it's party, party, party,
all the time.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Yes, And I wonder if any of you feel like, well,
I don't know, Jay, if you were in school, if
there's a difference for you, But has there felt like
there's a difference pre COVID and post COVID to spring break?
I mean, because I feel like you were home kind
of doing school at home or just on campus. There
were some years where we weren't really traveling, right, and
(09:26):
so has there felt like a difference now post COVID
to the spring break or have you not noticed very
much of a difference.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
I don't think I'm the best person to speak to that.
During COVID, I was in eighth grade, and then post COVID,
I was pretty much homeschool for high school, so it
was never a thing like spring break. But I will
say the high schoolers now are also participating in spring break,
which is something I never knew about before. I was like,
when did we start doing this?
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Like yeah, wow, I was not aware of that. What
about for you, Fatima and MICHAELA any kind of difference
between kind of pre COVID and post COVID spring break vibes.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
So when I started college right after lockdown, so I
wasn't in the thick of it before COVID, but I
did have older siblings who got to experience college pre COVID.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
And what I will say is that.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Spring break before COVID, I feel like, was a lot
more chill in the sense that it wasn't a big
production for social media. It was, yeah, we're gonna go
to Miami, we're gonna go to Puerto Rico, we're gonna
go to the dr and everybody went on their trips.
Everybody took cute pictures and called it a day. Whereas
(10:35):
I feel like post COVID, I don't know what exactly
the shift was, but something really did shift, whereas like
everything is so social media centered now. Yes, spring break
I feel like is more reproduction now than it is
an actual trip.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I wasn't. I also
wasn't going to be like in the figure that during
COVID or before I started college in twenty twenty one,
so I was a ride after. And yeah, I mean
it got time. Things were kind of getting reaccolated back
into kind of like a semi normal kind of structure
(11:15):
when it comes to like spring break and stuff like that.
College culture, campus culture, especially at my HBCU. It took
like a little bit of time just to get back
into the swing of things. But I think now that
we've been back for like maybe a year or so,
like it has taken a grand kind of scale type
(11:35):
of thing. And I agree with the social media playing
a huge role in it, because it's got expectation to
go to all the places that's trending, get content, do
all those types of things, which isn't bad, like it's
your rag, but it's also like it is becoming like
super oversaturated and it feels like the focus should be
(11:55):
more on enjoying yourself and enjoying your peers. Why you
have that time to take that break, because you know
the rest of the last time it's really going to
be built into your schedule, And yeah, I think it
should be more focused on having a good.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Time more from our conversation after the break, So, y'all
have mentioned a couple of cities that it feels are
still on the map for spring break right, So definitely
when I was in school, people talked about, like Daytana
Beach in Miami. One city that I feel like has
(12:31):
not been as much of a spring break destination but
that I'm definitely hearing more about this year is Houston.
So I'm wondering, are people on your campuses talking about Houston?
Are they visiting Houston for spring break? And how do
you feel like cities like Houston and Miami, Like, how
did it become such popular attractions for spring break destinations
for students.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
So one of my suite mates actually went to Houston,
and I also was a little confused about why Houston
was the spot, especially because apparently this was like tropical
season in Houston or Texas. People were complaining they like,
you guys are coming here, but it's going to be
raining a lot, which.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
It did, and people were complaining.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
But I think where the shift is coming from is
Miami placing a lot of restrictions on spring breakgoers, so
that like pushed a lot of people out. Miami kind
of was telling people don't come here anymore. And I
think where Houston came to play, I don't know, because
(13:36):
I questioned myself. I was like, why not Atlanta because
I don't know, But with Houston.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I think for Houston, it has a lot of club culture.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
It's big, and I think also spring Break overlapping with Rodeo.
I think that also played a big role in it
as well. I was also telling the group before you
joined Ghana Independence also had like a big stream of
party He's going on in Houston during like the first
week of spring break. So I think what happened with
(14:06):
Houston this year, it was like there were three waves
of people. There were people coming for the Independence events,
there were people coming generally for spring Break, and then
there were people there for Rodeo as well, and that's
how we got what we got this year.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, you know, it's really interesting because when I think
about spring break, I'm thinking typically water, right, that is
what I associated with, and there I don't think is
any water. I mean maybe the Gulf of Mexico, but
like in Houston, the kinda go lay out next to
But you bring up a great point around like nightclub
culture righting, like different cultural kinds of things that may
be interesting to students, Jaya, what have you been hearing
(14:42):
from peers as it relates to Houston and Miami in
different places?
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Adding on to the Fatima's point, I only seen about
a handful of students actually go to Houston from my
school for rodeo. A lot of them went to Daytona,
and that is because Miami plays so many restrictions on students,
but also with the nightclub culture there, Like say you
were a plus sized girl, you probably wouldn't even be
able to get into the clubs in Miami. But I
(15:07):
know a lot of people want that. Florida feel like
you said, a lot of people want to be around
water and be on the beach because I feel that
a lot of people subconsciously look at the beach as cleansing,
So a lot of people yet want to be around.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Water and MICHAELA, you were in Thoughland, New Orleans. We
know that's just like a quick drive to Houston. So
people talking about Houston as a fring break destination at
your time in campus.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So prior to this year, not as many people, even
though we were like super duper close. I think it
was more of like the Florida Miami vibe. But again,
as they said that, there are a lot more restrictions
and there are a lot of like different identity kind
of politics at play, which was a great point. And
(15:52):
so Houston has a lot going on this year, and
I feel like it was very i would say, like marketed,
but a lot of people like with the plans of
the rodeo and stuff like that, like they made nice
plans and like layout so it can be like an
easy trip, so you can have expectations going into it.
(16:12):
I think that's the positive. But the social media having
an impact is because when people are hosting events and
stuff like that, you get a feel of what you're
eating into and you can kind of share it into
the group chat and see if everybody's comfortable with the
vibe that Houston has. And it seems like a lot
of people that I know who are still currently at
(16:32):
my school, or probably even one or two years out
of graduation. All went to Houston to the rodeo and
just the surrounding parties. Like when a big thing like
that is happening in a city, everybody tries to maybe
do an event or that type of thing pop up.
So it seemed that there is an array of options
this time, and I think this time, this go around,
(16:54):
Houston was the place to go.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
So if I'm hearing you correctly, there were maybe like
ev organizers and maybe like party promoters who were getting
packages together almost for students to opt into, like oh,
come spend your spring break here in Houston and you
could just pay for your trip almost in one as
opposed to like somebody in your friend group organizing. And
is that kind of what y'all saw happening?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
For sure? People who I saw when they're yeah, they
posted all the events if they were attending, and like
a lot of Greek events, different kind of school, kind
of theme events the school versus that school. Like people
really got creative with promoting and so I think that
also was a really big plus in detain around for.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Got it, got it, So Fatima you mentioned, I mean
I'm thinking back to like my time in college, and
I don't even ever remember having an extra like two
hundred to five hundred or more dollars to like spend
on spring break. And you mentioned like all these people
getting together and like going to a villa or something
in the dr And so, how have you been hearing
peers talk about like actually financing spring break. Is it
(17:59):
something as like a gift from family? Are they saving
throughout the semester for it? Picking up an extra job
to do it?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Like?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
How are people getting creative around financing? Hopefully not credit
card did, but how are people getting creative around financing
for spring break?
Speaker 3 (18:13):
The top answer for that would be those refund checks.
A lot of people are using good amounts of der
refund checks.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Work study jobs as well. People are picking up those
extra shifts.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Like before spring break, everyone I knew did not have
their hair done, no nails were done. Everybody was on
a very strict and tight budget.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Fail.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
That's definitely where that's coming from.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Any thought's there for you, Giant.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Yes, as far as how I feel people are founding it,
definitely refund checks, Definitely their parents. But one thing I've
been noticing is a lot of students are acting like
random students on campus. Hey, we're going here for screen break.
Do you do someone want to put it in one
ninety five for the airbnb, Like complete random students that
they never spoke to before. They're just getting together to
(19:05):
get airbnbs and take the trips and flights.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
H Okay, okay, what about you and Kayla?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, for sure, I'd say you like a combination of
those two. Like people would definitely ask outside of their
friend us they can split it up more because the
more you split up the airbnb or the flight costs,
the cheaper it is. And then like leading up to
spring break, I saw people like selling brownies or like
bag goods, or like they'll do a hair sell hotel. Like,
(19:34):
people are getting really creative on campus around ramping up
to spring break because they were saving up and so
they'll use whatever talents they had to just support their
trip and so and openly do it. And people understood
that there's a common understanding with that, So people were
more prone to buying a big good or whatnot and
(19:54):
stuff like that supporting them.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
You know, Jeah, you bring up an interesting point in
the interest of just trying to make the trip happen,
you end up maybe traveling with strangers or you know, like, Okay,
I just need somebody to feel this spot. So Okay,
I don't know very much about you, but come on,
and the common joke around like girls' trips and they
fallen apart after a trip to Miami. I feel like
this could be one of the reasons why we sometimes
(20:18):
see tension after trips is that there is no real
common understanding or very maybe much knowledge of this person
that you're even traveling with, which can lead to like, oh,
I didn't know this about you because I didn't know
very much about you at all. And then maybe some
of that's spelling over to campus. Have you seen any
kind of fallout from that even this year around people
(20:38):
who maybe didn't know each other that well and then
the group trip did not go so well.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
Yeah, like the group chat did not make it out
of Miami together. I've seen, and it's sad to say
what I've seen, like girls get left on beaches and
stif girls get left back in the airbnbs because they
It's different when you are having a peer or friend
and you guys only ever talk or me out the
side of a shared space. But then when you're living
(21:03):
together and you're not agreeing with what one person does
and what the next person does, and you guys are
getting into arguments about city things, and this group's breaking
up pretty much like you said, group chat, not making
it out of Miami, falling out out of Miami. I
think that is one of the main reasons why, because
they don't know the people that they are going on
these trips with not well enough. Anyways.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Well, for me, today's the first day back from spring break,
so I guess I haven't heard anything just yet, but
I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
I'll hear things as it goes.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
But looking back past couple of years of college, yeah,
I've definitely seen those kind of issues. And more times
than often, it's not a situation of oh, you took
people you don't know on trips. It's you went with
your friends, but they were pre existing divides in the
friend group that just got amplified on the trip. And
(21:57):
you come back from the trip and now it's like, Okay,
now everybody sees it for what it is, and you
see the whole fallout happen after that.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Yeah, so maybe issues that should have been discussed before
you actually took the trip, and maybe even people thinking like, oh,
this trip will make it better, right, like we'll just
have fun together, when we know that that is not
always the case. Yes, got it, got it. So I
know you are already thinking ahead, Fatima to your birthday
celebration and post graduation celebration. But for each of you,
(22:28):
are there places that are not like typical spring break
spots that you're thinking like, oh, this is on my
vision board that I would like to vacation or have
a trip there one day.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yes, so my sisters and I are talking about South
of France, hopefully for a grad slash birthday trip. South
of France is a popular summer spot for vacationing, but
not necessarily for spring break. My sister also suggested Mikonos,
which is also not spring break and I guess this
(23:03):
could be a spring break spot, but not at the
same time. But Saint Vincent it's pretty close by, it's
the Islands, but I haven't really heard it as a
spot that.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
People go to for spring break.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Those are the top three places that I'm looking at.
We'll see what works out, but hopefully one of them
work out.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
What about you, MICHAELA? Any places on your list for
the future, I.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Think, like for the summer. Like my I also have
a summer birthday. I'm also a Gemini, So I'm thinking
like I'll be moving to my grad program in New
York and so I think, honestly there to start with
just discovering certain aspects of the city and stuff like that.
I think that's where I'm looking at going. Not a
typical spring Break spot and from my knowledge, but I
(23:48):
think honestly though, I'm seeing that spring Break is going
from like more of like a tropical by the water
vibe to like city vibes just because of organizing in
the city, club culture and stuff like that. So I'm
excited to check that out in New York. I've never been,
And yeah, I see it's about exciting.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
What about you, Dan, Yeah, so I am a Haitian
American and I'm learning more about that side of myself
because my mom doesn't really talk about it. I've started
meeting more of my family members lately with the past
winter Break and Christmas and whatnot. So I know a
lot of people don't want to go to Haiti, but
I if I don't go to where my people are from,
(24:34):
I at least want to step my foot on the
sand on the soil over there to be like okay
this and get to know more about it. And I
don't think that's on a lot of people's vision boards,
per say, because I hear a lot of stigma around
Haiti and not going over there and whatnot. If I
can get over there, I'm going, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
It sounds really important both as a beautiful place to visit,
but also it feels very important to you roots wise
and like this is where I'm from, this.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Is my family is bro Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
So MICHAELA, is there anything that you wish that you
had known about spring break before actually starting college?
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Ooh man, that is a great question. I think for me,
what I wish that I've known before, like spring break
culture is honestly just doing more. Like for me, I'm
a bit artsy, right and so I love to take
coloroid to have kind of physical media and stuff like that.
I think I would definitely invest more into that kind
(25:35):
of way of archiving these experiences or just talking about
it rather than social media. I think like I've definitely
been influenced to just do things for a spring break
that I wasn't or my friends weren't honestly super interesting
and it's just what's happening right or it's just where
(25:57):
you know everybody's at recording so I get to spring break.
For me, it's not a typical kind of answer to
this question, but I would definitely take more polaris, like
I don't know if film camera. I have a little
cam quarder like just so I can hold the memories
of my hand and have to scroll to find them.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
So nice. More for our conversation after the break and Johnny,
you mentioned you are preparing for a nursing school and
thinking about what the future of your program will look like.
Is there anything that you're hoping that you will do
differently in spring breaks in the future years.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Yes, So going into college, I wish I would have
known how important spring break is in terms of resting.
In my case, this past spring break, I had no plan,
so I just went home and rested. But I really
wish I would have been the student to save up
to go somewhere, even if it wasn't a place like
we said Daytona Houston. I wish that I would have
went somewhere to actually clear my mind and not somewhere
(26:58):
I'm so familiar with actually be like okay, yeah, you
know I did this, and with like having to take
my teas and going into nursing school, I just wish
I took it more serious because now this is the
only time in my life where this break is really
built in so into my schedule. So now it's like, Okay,
things are getting serious, and I nursing students don't necessarily
(27:18):
have a spring break that necessarily averlant and rate. It's
always work and no play with them for most of
the times. So I wish I would have took it
more serious.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
As I'm hearing y'all say talk about this in MICHAELA,
you even mentioned you know, now you're in between undergrad
and preparing for your grad program, thinking about like adult life,
so to speak, right, and like there are not these
built in breaks, and it's making me think of, like,
how can we do a better job of being intentional
about creating these breaks for ourselves? Right, Like it comes
as a part of the program when you're in school,
(27:47):
but like you still need breaks as an adult, and
so how do we prepare for that, you know, say,
for that, how do we protect that time on our calendar?
So that we don't like burn out or find ourselves
really crashing out because we have not taken a break.
And I don't think that we always do the best
job of thinking about that as adults. But I think
that if I could give a piece of advice to
you would be to think about, like, Okay, how do
(28:10):
I protect time even if it's not a full week, right, Like,
maybe it's a couple of long weekends here and there,
so that you are still being intentional about giving yourself
those breaks even though you know you don't have the
name spring break anymore. And fatimo, is there a piece
of advice that you would offer to maybe first years
or sophomore is about spring break?
Speaker 3 (28:29):
The biggest piece of advice I would always tell people
is to not compare ourselves, especially as a first year
coming in. Think spring break is one of the first
times you really see, I guess, the financial gaps between
not necessarily maybe you and your peers, it could be
(28:50):
you and your peers, but just your college community seeing
the kind of lavish trips some people are able to
go on with their families and friends. So the first
thing is to not compare or to not feel bad.
And the second thing I would always say like, yeah,
like just if you have the opportunity to do it,
then one hundred percent do it, because these are the
(29:12):
only four years of your life where a break is
actually built into your schedule. When I went on break
with my friend earlier this year, when I was in
Ghane and January, one of my friends made a joke
and it was like, Oh my gosh, guys, can you
believe that next year we're going to have to.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Put in PTO to do this?
Speaker 3 (29:29):
So it was like just knowing how to actually take
advantage of it. So if the opportunity present itself, one
hundred percent do it.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I love it. So you've all kind of talked about
kind of making spring break and these different things to
your own. What are your thoughts about, like creating traditions
like these for yourselves and things that you might share
with other college students, any ideas about how you're planning
to do that kind of post undergrad life.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
So for me, I plan on guess, depending on how
over my post grad job would look, like choosing a
specific time of the year to just always tell myself
that this is when I'm taking my PTO one hundred percent.
I've grown up watching my parents do it. My parents
(30:15):
take their PTO together every September so they get to
vacation together after working so hard during the year. And
I even see my sisters do it every June, they
take a summer trip together, and now that I'm graduating,
I can finally join them. But I think it's really
really great and it's been nice for me being able
(30:37):
to see that example set in my life by people
that I look up to because they're all very hard
working individuals, but seeing them make the cautious effort to
take a break and treat themselves shows.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Me that life is not all about working.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
About too Jallia.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
If I'm being honest, I've never necessarily thought that far
out about what I'll do when I get out of
college in terms of giving myself a break. I can
say that with going on the non traditional path to medicine,
I'll be a nurse first, so I think, like, from
(31:15):
what I know thus far, my job will allow me
to have those breaks. Because we are working twelve hour ships.
I know my body will be tired, but it's not
as if I'm working every single day. To me, right now,
when I think postgrad, I'm thinking of breaking generational curses
because I am a first gen student. So I'm thinking, Okay,
let me get the good job. Let me go back
(31:36):
to school to get another degree, so that I can
buy my own car, buy my own house, so I
can get my family out of the predicament that I
grew up in, so that we don't have to repeat
those same patterns. So if I were to sit here
right now and think of what I can do to
have some stress free days, I would say to I've
(32:00):
learned this recently to build in Sunday to where I
don't have any phone calls and I just do my
own thing for that day and not worry about the
stress of the outside world.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
And what about you, Michiela, Yeah, I for sure think
that like a tradition or so they're gonna take about
like spring break. It's just like when for me and
as supposed to graduate, especially when Goo has her job,
and like gen Z, this whole kind of exiting college
and getting a job. Self advocacy is something that I'm
(32:33):
going to consider more because gen Z hiring is having
a lot of issues when it comes to taking breaks
and having work loads, and you're young, you're in the office,
so they're gonna throw a lot out you and be like, oh,
they can do that, they can do this, they can
do that. But when you're used to having four consistent
years of a break or just your own autonomy and
(32:56):
that type of thing, it's a hard transition to go
into a place where you have to then prove that
you need a break. But everybody needs one, and so
I think just having a level of self advocacy and
also just setting out on peers who might be in
a samary situation in their workplace, no matter what kind
of occupation we're in, two just it's gonna be hard,
(33:18):
it's gonna be difficult, but you need a break, and
if you're not getting opportunity to do so because of
such a situation, then you know you have to be
an advocate for yourself and make sure that that happens.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Thank you so much for sharing that. It has been
so much fun to hear more about all of the
things that y'all have done for spring break and thoughts
that you have around spring breaks for the future. But
as we wrap up, please remind us where we can
find you online, GIA, if you'll start by sharing any
social media channels you'd like to share, you.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Guys can find me at Gyrina on all socials. On LinkedIn,
it is Jaya bacon So first named j Ya renee
r e n e e E on Instagram and TikTok
and I am currently building a website for college students
surrounding around internship, scholarships, fellowships and mental health resources. I
am calling it this Sunday Spread, so that will be
(34:10):
available very soon and if you guys go follow that
instam as well.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Perfect, what about you, MICHAELA Yeah, So across my platforms,
LinkedIn is just my first last name. It it's Michayla
m I k n y l an you weary w
E n r O y. I share all the things
that I'm organizing and accomplishments and stuff like that on there.
Then if you want to follow my Instagram or I
post on my creative work, it is at b dot
(34:36):
MV stands with black or the Berry. That is my
independent curation and media company. So if you want to
follow that, please do it.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Perfect and Fatima yes.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
On LinkedIn and you can find me at my full name,
so it's Fatima of A t I m A z
z A h r A and Cassine k A s
s I M. If you're looking for me on Instagram,
it's Zara z a h r A A dot My
last name Cassim k A s s I M. And
(35:10):
I'm looking to be more active on my website. I
have a website where I post different political and social
issues surrounding black and diaspora places, and you can find
that at kodzar dot com, which is k O y
I d A z h r a dot com beautiful.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
We will be sure to include all of those in
the show notes. Thank y'all so much for spending some
time with me again today. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
I'm so glad the counsel was able to join me
for today's conversation. Their honesty about navigating expectations, finances, and
mental health during this time of year is such a
powerful reminder that spring break doesn't have to look one way.
Whether you're traveling, staying home, working, or resting, you deserve
to choose what's to what's your well being. If you'd
like to learn more about tvgu or explore more of
(36:05):
our resources, visit the website at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com.
Slash TVGU and don't forget to text this episode to
two of your girls right now. This episode was produced
by Elise Ellis, Indi Chubu, and Tyrie Rush. Editing was
done by Dennis and Bradford. Thank y'all so much for
joining me for another episode of TVGU. I look forward
to continue in this conversation with you all real soon.
(36:27):
Take it game,
Hey, y'all, thanks so much for joining me for another
episode of Therapy for Black Girl's University. We'll get right
to our conversation after a word from our sponsors. In
a special spring Break edition of Therapy for Black Girl's University,
(00:28):
I sat down with our advisory council for a lively
and insightful group chat about what spring break really looks
like at different stages of the college journey. Jaya, a sophomore,
shared her excitement and curiosity as she's still figuring out
what spring break means for her. Fatima, a senior, reflected
on navigating the pressure to make the most of her
last college spring break while staying grounded in what she
(00:49):
truly wants. And MICHAELA, a recent graduate, offered wisdom about
transitioning out of the college bubble and redefining rest fund
and boundaries in adulthood. Together, we chatted about the culture
around black spring break, Houston, the joy community, and misconceptions
how to approach spring break safely, with intention and authenticity.
(01:13):
We also talked about the financial realities of spring break,
how to resist the pressure to keep up with social
media aesthetics, and how to use this time off as
a meaningful mental health recent If something resonates with you
while enjoying our conversation, please share with us on social
media using the hashtag TVG in Session. Here's our conversation.
(01:36):
I am very excited to be back with our TVGU
Council today. Ladies, would you please start us off by
introducing yourselves again and letting us know what school you're representing.
We'll start with you. Fatima, Hi, everyon.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
My name is Fatima.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
I'm a senior at Toft University and I study political science.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
Jaya Hi, everyone, my name is Jyron named Bacon, and
I am a sophomore at the unsinkable Albany State University.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
And Michaelah.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
My name is MICHAELA and I'm a graduate of Dillard University.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
So we're very excited. The weather is getting better outside,
sunshine has returned to our lives, and many of you
are preparing for a spring break. So what does spring
break mean to each of you at this stage in
your academic journey? So, Fatima, you are preparing for maybe
your last spring break, well definitely as an undergrad. So
what is spring break feeling like to you right now?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I actually just came back from spring break, And I
feel like for most people spring break is about like vacationing,
getting out the country and taking trips. But for me personally,
especially because I'm about to graduate, there's just a lot
going on and a lot to figure out because of
uncertainty about postgrad. For me, spring break was a time
(02:50):
for me to just reset, recharge, and just catch a break.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
So that's where I'm at.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Got it? And what about you, Jaiya, how are you
feeling about the pacing of spring break now that you
are a sophomore?
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Yeah, so my spring rate ended two weeks ago, and
with every break, I agree with Fatima. I just take
that time to rest. I don't do much. I don't
go to Daytona, I don't party. I just sleep all
the time.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
And MICHAELA, this is your first year without necessarily an
official kind of spring break, right, So what it feel
like for you to not have that built in kind
of time off.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Yes, it's definitely treaking, some giving news to I think
having the kind of leisure and type of vacation built in.
I miss it definitely. Because I supposed to graduate, I'm working,
and so those little things are things that I don't
really think about when exiting college, and you know, I
(03:48):
did still get to, you know, get in touch with
on my friends who are still in college and kind
of see what's going on and spring break and whatnot.
But yeah, it's different. It's cool, but yeah, good time still.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Okay. So, Fatima and Jaya, you both mentioned that you
did not use the spring break this year as an
opportunity to get out and party. You really used it
as a reset and like, Okay, let me just maybe
catch up on some things and me kind of collect
my breath. Is there any feelings of like, oh gosh,
like I missed out, Like we're other friends traveling and
doing maybe more fun things, or how are you navigating
(04:22):
kind of watching maybe other people do the Daytona Jaya
you mentioned, or like the partying versus you kind of
just stay in put this year.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
For me, I don't necessarily feel like I missed out
on anything because I don't like big crowds. With this
spring break, I am in the semester right before nursing school,
so I'm preparing to take my teas, so it has
been a lot of studying on my end. So being
able to go home and just sit down and rest
and recollect my thoughts. I got a break that I
didn't know I needed because in college I'm so used
(04:53):
to be an oncle that when I really got time
to sit down, I was like, hmm, I was actually
always working. I needed this breaksit myself.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
And for me, I did get a bit of fomo
because especially because I'm in my senior year, so I
was like, I'm going to look back at this and
regret that i didn't do it. But for me, I
think what was really important was stepping back and looking
at the bigger picture and understanding that I'm not in
a race with anyone and this is really just about
(05:24):
my mental wellbeing and my physical wellbeing. And I feel
like it also gives me something to work more towards,
because now the idea I have for myself is that, Okay,
for graduation and for my birthday, which is in June,
like four weeks out from grad, I'm going to do
it big. I'm going to treat myself. So I think
(05:45):
I'm coping well.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Nice, nice. So you know, back in my days, so
to speak, all we had were like stories to tell
about like what we did on spring break? Right, are
what friends did on their spring breaks in years past
and even in current years, and now you all have
so much social media. There's so much technology, so many
different ways to document what's happening. If you think about
(06:09):
like the time you spend in college and McHale, the
time that you know, the years you spend in college,
how do you feel like social media has impacted our
influence the ways that you think about spring break?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
I think social media has definitely created an image of
what spring break I guess quote unquote should look like.
And it's contrary to what both Giant Fatima said, just
kind of the recharging and recentering type of vibe, because
I feel like our generation like we're working really hard
(06:39):
because there's a lot of things and uncertainties that we
have to navigate, especially in that last year a couple
of years before you graduate slash postgrad, right, And so
I think the image that has created is like this
hard line between okay, recharging and recentoring and the partying.
(06:59):
But I think the image it's kind of changed over time.
I think now it's like party, party, party, don't sleep,
But the reality might be something more closer than two.
I'm gonna recharge, I'm gonna move into something fun and small,
maybe like a day trip, but mostly we still have
(07:19):
school next week, so that sort of thing. That's how
I actually spent my last two spring breaks. So but yeah,
I think it's changed depending on what we've seen.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Mm hmm. Anybody else have thoughts about social media and
how it has influenced spring break culture so to speak?
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yes, so, at least from my perspective, I think social
media gives the impression that spring break is supposed to
be this big, grand thing, like these huge group chips.
Like I know one friend group in my city. They somehow,
I don't know how the trip made it out the
(07:57):
group chat, but they gathered twenty college students and they
all stood in one villa in dr and they posted
a lot of pictures. It seemed like they had a
really great time. But for someone like me or other
people who didn't do much for spring break, it can
ruin your perception of what it's supposed to be of.
Is this supposed to be a time for me to
(08:19):
rest or? Is this supposed to be a picture perfect
trip where I'm taking pictures. I have this like a
friend group of fifteen twenty people. So I think social
media definitely amplifies the expectations of what spring break is
supposed to look like. Rather than it being a time
for rest, it's depicted to be more of a time
of partying, which is nothing wrong with it, but yeah,
(08:41):
definitely social media plays a big role in that.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yes, I definitely agree with both Fatima and Mikayla. Going
back to what you said about fear and missing out,
I feel that social media plays a part in other
students with that. They feel like they have to be
at the parties, they have to be at the beaches,
they have to take the pictures, and they don't necessarily
feel like they need to recharge. They feel like it's party, party, party,
all the time.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Yes, And I wonder if any of you feel like, well,
I don't know, Jay, if you were in school, if
there's a difference for you, But has there felt like
there's a difference pre COVID and post COVID to spring break?
I mean, because I feel like you were home kind
of doing school at home or just on campus. There
were some years where we weren't really traveling, right, and
(09:26):
so has there felt like a difference now post COVID
to the spring break or have you not noticed very
much of a difference.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
I don't think I'm the best person to speak to that.
During COVID, I was in eighth grade, and then post COVID,
I was pretty much homeschool for high school, so it
was never a thing like spring break. But I will
say the high schoolers now are also participating in spring break,
which is something I never knew about before. I was like,
when did we start doing this?
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Like yeah, wow, I was not aware of that. What
about for you, Fatima and MICHAELA any kind of difference
between kind of pre COVID and post COVID spring break vibes.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
So when I started college right after lockdown, so I
wasn't in the thick of it before COVID, but I
did have older siblings who got to experience college pre COVID.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
And what I will say is that.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
Spring break before COVID, I feel like, was a lot
more chill in the sense that it wasn't a big
production for social media. It was, yeah, we're gonna go
to Miami, we're gonna go to Puerto Rico, we're gonna
go to the dr and everybody went on their trips.
Everybody took cute pictures and called it a day. Whereas
(10:35):
I feel like post COVID, I don't know what exactly
the shift was, but something really did shift, whereas like
everything is so social media centered now. Yes, spring break
I feel like is more reproduction now than it is
an actual trip.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I wasn't. I also
wasn't going to be like in the figure that during
COVID or before I started college in twenty twenty one,
so I was a ride after. And yeah, I mean
it got time. Things were kind of getting reaccolated back
into kind of like a semi normal kind of structure
(11:15):
when it comes to like spring break and stuff like that.
College culture, campus culture, especially at my HBCU. It took
like a little bit of time just to get back
into the swing of things. But I think now that
we've been back for like maybe a year or so,
like it has taken a grand kind of scale type
(11:35):
of thing. And I agree with the social media playing
a huge role in it, because it's got expectation to
go to all the places that's trending, get content, do
all those types of things, which isn't bad, like it's
your rag, but it's also like it is becoming like
super oversaturated and it feels like the focus should be
(11:55):
more on enjoying yourself and enjoying your peers. Why you
have that time to take that break, because you know
the rest of the last time it's really going to
be built into your schedule, And yeah, I think it
should be more focused on having a good.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Time more from our conversation after the break, So, y'all
have mentioned a couple of cities that it feels are
still on the map for spring break right, So definitely
when I was in school, people talked about, like Daytana
Beach in Miami. One city that I feel like has
(12:31):
not been as much of a spring break destination but
that I'm definitely hearing more about this year is Houston.
So I'm wondering, are people on your campuses talking about Houston?
Are they visiting Houston for spring break? And how do
you feel like cities like Houston and Miami, Like, how
did it become such popular attractions for spring break destinations
for students.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
So one of my suite mates actually went to Houston,
and I also was a little confused about why Houston
was the spot, especially because apparently this was like tropical
season in Houston or Texas. People were complaining they like,
you guys are coming here, but it's going to be
raining a lot, which.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
It did, and people were complaining.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
But I think where the shift is coming from is
Miami placing a lot of restrictions on spring breakgoers, so
that like pushed a lot of people out. Miami kind
of was telling people don't come here anymore. And I
think where Houston came to play, I don't know, because
(13:36):
I questioned myself. I was like, why not Atlanta because
I don't know, But with Houston.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
I think for Houston, it has a lot of club culture.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
It's big, and I think also spring Break overlapping with Rodeo.
I think that also played a big role in it
as well. I was also telling the group before you
joined Ghana Independence also had like a big stream of
party He's going on in Houston during like the first
week of spring break. So I think what happened with
(14:06):
Houston this year, it was like there were three waves
of people. There were people coming for the Independence events,
there were people coming generally for spring Break, and then
there were people there for Rodeo as well, and that's
how we got what we got this year.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Yeah, you know, it's really interesting because when I think
about spring break, I'm thinking typically water, right, that is
what I associated with, and there I don't think is
any water. I mean maybe the Gulf of Mexico, but
like in Houston, the kinda go lay out next to
But you bring up a great point around like nightclub
culture righting, like different cultural kinds of things that may
be interesting to students, Jaya, what have you been hearing
(14:42):
from peers as it relates to Houston and Miami in
different places?
Speaker 4 (14:46):
Adding on to the Fatima's point, I only seen about
a handful of students actually go to Houston from my
school for rodeo. A lot of them went to Daytona,
and that is because Miami plays so many restrictions on students,
but also with the nightclub culture there, Like say you
were a plus sized girl, you probably wouldn't even be
able to get into the clubs in Miami. But I
(15:07):
know a lot of people want that. Florida feel like
you said, a lot of people want to be around
water and be on the beach because I feel that
a lot of people subconsciously look at the beach as cleansing,
So a lot of people yet want to be around.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Water and MICHAELA, you were in Thoughland, New Orleans. We
know that's just like a quick drive to Houston. So
people talking about Houston as a fring break destination at
your time in campus.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
So prior to this year, not as many people, even
though we were like super duper close. I think it
was more of like the Florida Miami vibe. But again,
as they said that, there are a lot more restrictions
and there are a lot of like different identity kind
of politics at play, which was a great point. And
(15:52):
so Houston has a lot going on this year, and
I feel like it was very i would say, like marketed,
but a lot of people like with the plans of
the rodeo and stuff like that, like they made nice
plans and like layout so it can be like an
easy trip, so you can have expectations going into it.
(16:12):
I think that's the positive. But the social media having
an impact is because when people are hosting events and
stuff like that, you get a feel of what you're
eating into and you can kind of share it into
the group chat and see if everybody's comfortable with the
vibe that Houston has. And it seems like a lot
of people that I know who are still currently at
(16:32):
my school, or probably even one or two years out
of graduation. All went to Houston to the rodeo and
just the surrounding parties. Like when a big thing like
that is happening in a city, everybody tries to maybe
do an event or that type of thing pop up.
So it seemed that there is an array of options
this time, and I think this time, this go around,
(16:54):
Houston was the place to go.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
So if I'm hearing you correctly, there were maybe like
ev organizers and maybe like party promoters who were getting
packages together almost for students to opt into, like oh,
come spend your spring break here in Houston and you
could just pay for your trip almost in one as
opposed to like somebody in your friend group organizing. And
is that kind of what y'all saw happening?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
For sure? People who I saw when they're yeah, they
posted all the events if they were attending, and like
a lot of Greek events, different kind of school, kind
of theme events the school versus that school. Like people
really got creative with promoting and so I think that
also was a really big plus in detain around for.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Got it, got it, So Fatima you mentioned, I mean
I'm thinking back to like my time in college, and
I don't even ever remember having an extra like two
hundred to five hundred or more dollars to like spend
on spring break. And you mentioned like all these people
getting together and like going to a villa or something
in the dr And so, how have you been hearing
peers talk about like actually financing spring break. Is it
(17:59):
something as like a gift from family? Are they saving
throughout the semester for it? Picking up an extra job
to do it?
Speaker 2 (18:05):
Like?
Speaker 1 (18:05):
How are people getting creative around financing? Hopefully not credit
card did, but how are people getting creative around financing
for spring break?
Speaker 3 (18:13):
The top answer for that would be those refund checks.
A lot of people are using good amounts of der
refund checks.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Work study jobs as well. People are picking up those
extra shifts.
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Like before spring break, everyone I knew did not have
their hair done, no nails were done. Everybody was on
a very strict and tight budget.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Fail.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
That's definitely where that's coming from.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
Any thought's there for you, Giant.
Speaker 4 (18:43):
Yes, as far as how I feel people are founding it,
definitely refund checks, Definitely their parents. But one thing I've
been noticing is a lot of students are acting like
random students on campus. Hey, we're going here for screen break.
Do you do someone want to put it in one
ninety five for the airbnb, Like complete random students that
they never spoke to before. They're just getting together to
(19:05):
get airbnbs and take the trips and flights.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
H Okay, okay, what about you and Kayla?
Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yeah, for sure, I'd say you like a combination of
those two. Like people would definitely ask outside of their
friend us they can split it up more because the
more you split up the airbnb or the flight costs,
the cheaper it is. And then like leading up to
spring break, I saw people like selling brownies or like
bag goods, or like they'll do a hair sell hotel. Like,
(19:34):
people are getting really creative on campus around ramping up
to spring break because they were saving up and so
they'll use whatever talents they had to just support their
trip and so and openly do it. And people understood
that there's a common understanding with that, So people were
more prone to buying a big good or whatnot and
(19:54):
stuff like that supporting them.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
You know, Jeah, you bring up an interesting point in
the interest of just trying to make the trip happen,
you end up maybe traveling with strangers or you know, like, Okay,
I just need somebody to feel this spot. So Okay,
I don't know very much about you, but come on,
and the common joke around like girls' trips and they
fallen apart after a trip to Miami. I feel like
this could be one of the reasons why we sometimes
(20:18):
see tension after trips is that there is no real
common understanding or very maybe much knowledge of this person
that you're even traveling with, which can lead to like, oh,
I didn't know this about you because I didn't know
very much about you at all. And then maybe some
of that's spelling over to campus. Have you seen any
kind of fallout from that even this year around people
(20:38):
who maybe didn't know each other that well and then
the group trip did not go so well.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
Yeah, like the group chat did not make it out
of Miami together. I've seen, and it's sad to say
what I've seen, like girls get left on beaches and
stif girls get left back in the airbnbs because they
It's different when you are having a peer or friend
and you guys only ever talk or me out the
side of a shared space. But then when you're living
(21:03):
together and you're not agreeing with what one person does
and what the next person does, and you guys are
getting into arguments about city things, and this group's breaking
up pretty much like you said, group chat, not making
it out of Miami, falling out out of Miami. I
think that is one of the main reasons why, because
they don't know the people that they are going on
these trips with not well enough. Anyways.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Well, for me, today's the first day back from spring break,
so I guess I haven't heard anything just yet, but
I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
I'll hear things as it goes.
Speaker 3 (21:35):
But looking back past couple of years of college, yeah,
I've definitely seen those kind of issues. And more times
than often, it's not a situation of oh, you took
people you don't know on trips. It's you went with
your friends, but they were pre existing divides in the
friend group that just got amplified on the trip. And
(21:57):
you come back from the trip and now it's like, Okay,
now everybody sees it for what it is, and you
see the whole fallout happen after that.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Yeah, so maybe issues that should have been discussed before
you actually took the trip, and maybe even people thinking like, oh,
this trip will make it better, right, like we'll just
have fun together, when we know that that is not
always the case. Yes, got it, got it. So I
know you are already thinking ahead, Fatima to your birthday
celebration and post graduation celebration. But for each of you,
(22:28):
are there places that are not like typical spring break
spots that you're thinking like, oh, this is on my
vision board that I would like to vacation or have
a trip there one day.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Yes, so my sisters and I are talking about South
of France, hopefully for a grad slash birthday trip. South
of France is a popular summer spot for vacationing, but
not necessarily for spring break. My sister also suggested Mikonos,
which is also not spring break and I guess this
(23:03):
could be a spring break spot, but not at the
same time. But Saint Vincent it's pretty close by, it's
the Islands, but I haven't really heard it as a
spot that.
Speaker 4 (23:13):
People go to for spring break.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Those are the top three places that I'm looking at.
We'll see what works out, but hopefully one of them
work out.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
What about you, MICHAELA? Any places on your list for
the future, I.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Think, like for the summer. Like my I also have
a summer birthday. I'm also a Gemini, So I'm thinking
like I'll be moving to my grad program in New
York and so I think, honestly there to start with
just discovering certain aspects of the city and stuff like that.
I think that's where I'm looking at going. Not a
typical spring Break spot and from my knowledge, but I
(23:48):
think honestly though, I'm seeing that spring Break is going
from like more of like a tropical by the water
vibe to like city vibes just because of organizing in
the city, club culture and stuff like that. So I'm
excited to check that out in New York. I've never been,
And yeah, I see it's about exciting.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
What about you, Dan, Yeah, so I am a Haitian
American and I'm learning more about that side of myself
because my mom doesn't really talk about it. I've started
meeting more of my family members lately with the past
winter Break and Christmas and whatnot. So I know a
lot of people don't want to go to Haiti, but
I if I don't go to where my people are from,
(24:34):
I at least want to step my foot on the
sand on the soil over there to be like okay
this and get to know more about it. And I
don't think that's on a lot of people's vision boards,
per say, because I hear a lot of stigma around
Haiti and not going over there and whatnot. If I
can get over there, I'm going, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:52):
It sounds really important both as a beautiful place to visit,
but also it feels very important to you roots wise
and like this is where I'm from, this.
Speaker 4 (24:59):
Is my family is bro Yes, definitely.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
So MICHAELA, is there anything that you wish that you
had known about spring break before actually starting college?
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Ooh man, that is a great question. I think for me,
what I wish that I've known before, like spring break
culture is honestly just doing more. Like for me, I'm
a bit artsy, right and so I love to take
coloroid to have kind of physical media and stuff like that.
I think I would definitely invest more into that kind
(25:35):
of way of archiving these experiences or just talking about
it rather than social media. I think like I've definitely
been influenced to just do things for a spring break
that I wasn't or my friends weren't honestly super interesting
and it's just what's happening right or it's just where
(25:57):
you know everybody's at recording so I get to spring break.
For me, it's not a typical kind of answer to
this question, but I would definitely take more polaris, like
I don't know if film camera. I have a little
cam quarder like just so I can hold the memories
of my hand and have to scroll to find them.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
So nice. More for our conversation after the break and Johnny,
you mentioned you are preparing for a nursing school and
thinking about what the future of your program will look like.
Is there anything that you're hoping that you will do
differently in spring breaks in the future years.
Speaker 4 (26:36):
Yes, So going into college, I wish I would have
known how important spring break is in terms of resting.
In my case, this past spring break, I had no plan,
so I just went home and rested. But I really
wish I would have been the student to save up
to go somewhere, even if it wasn't a place like
we said Daytona Houston. I wish that I would have
went somewhere to actually clear my mind and not somewhere
(26:58):
I'm so familiar with actually be like okay, yeah, you
know I did this, and with like having to take
my teas and going into nursing school, I just wish
I took it more serious because now this is the
only time in my life where this break is really
built in so into my schedule. So now it's like, Okay,
things are getting serious, and I nursing students don't necessarily
(27:18):
have a spring break that necessarily averlant and rate. It's
always work and no play with them for most of
the times. So I wish I would have took it
more serious.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
As I'm hearing y'all say talk about this in MICHAELA,
you even mentioned you know, now you're in between undergrad
and preparing for your grad program, thinking about like adult life,
so to speak, right, and like there are not these
built in breaks, and it's making me think of, like,
how can we do a better job of being intentional
about creating these breaks for ourselves? Right, Like it comes
as a part of the program when you're in school,
(27:47):
but like you still need breaks as an adult, and
so how do we prepare for that, you know, say,
for that, how do we protect that time on our calendar?
So that we don't like burn out or find ourselves
really crashing out because we have not taken a break.
And I don't think that we always do the best
job of thinking about that as adults. But I think
that if I could give a piece of advice to
you would be to think about, like, Okay, how do
(28:10):
I protect time even if it's not a full week, right, Like,
maybe it's a couple of long weekends here and there,
so that you are still being intentional about giving yourself
those breaks even though you know you don't have the
name spring break anymore. And fatimo, is there a piece
of advice that you would offer to maybe first years
or sophomore is about spring break?
Speaker 3 (28:29):
The biggest piece of advice I would always tell people
is to not compare ourselves, especially as a first year
coming in. Think spring break is one of the first
times you really see, I guess, the financial gaps between
not necessarily maybe you and your peers, it could be
(28:50):
you and your peers, but just your college community seeing
the kind of lavish trips some people are able to
go on with their families and friends. So the first
thing is to not compare or to not feel bad.
And the second thing I would always say like, yeah,
like just if you have the opportunity to do it,
then one hundred percent do it, because these are the
(29:12):
only four years of your life where a break is
actually built into your schedule. When I went on break
with my friend earlier this year, when I was in
Ghane and January, one of my friends made a joke
and it was like, Oh my gosh, guys, can you
believe that next year we're going to have to.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Put in PTO to do this?
Speaker 3 (29:29):
So it was like just knowing how to actually take
advantage of it. So if the opportunity present itself, one
hundred percent do it.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
I love it. So you've all kind of talked about
kind of making spring break and these different things to
your own. What are your thoughts about, like creating traditions
like these for yourselves and things that you might share
with other college students, any ideas about how you're planning
to do that kind of post undergrad life.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
So for me, I plan on guess, depending on how
over my post grad job would look, like choosing a
specific time of the year to just always tell myself
that this is when I'm taking my PTO one hundred percent.
I've grown up watching my parents do it. My parents
(30:15):
take their PTO together every September so they get to
vacation together after working so hard during the year. And
I even see my sisters do it every June, they
take a summer trip together, and now that I'm graduating,
I can finally join them. But I think it's really
really great and it's been nice for me being able
(30:37):
to see that example set in my life by people
that I look up to because they're all very hard
working individuals, but seeing them make the cautious effort to
take a break and treat themselves shows.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Me that life is not all about working.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
About too Jallia.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
If I'm being honest, I've never necessarily thought that far
out about what I'll do when I get out of
college in terms of giving myself a break. I can
say that with going on the non traditional path to medicine,
I'll be a nurse first, so I think, like, from
(31:15):
what I know thus far, my job will allow me
to have those breaks. Because we are working twelve hour ships.
I know my body will be tired, but it's not
as if I'm working every single day. To me, right now,
when I think postgrad, I'm thinking of breaking generational curses
because I am a first gen student. So I'm thinking, Okay,
let me get the good job. Let me go back
(31:36):
to school to get another degree, so that I can
buy my own car, buy my own house, so I
can get my family out of the predicament that I
grew up in, so that we don't have to repeat
those same patterns. So if I were to sit here
right now and think of what I can do to
have some stress free days, I would say to I've
(32:00):
learned this recently to build in Sunday to where I
don't have any phone calls and I just do my
own thing for that day and not worry about the
stress of the outside world.
Speaker 2 (32:11):
And what about you, Michiela, Yeah, I for sure think
that like a tradition or so they're gonna take about
like spring break. It's just like when for me and
as supposed to graduate, especially when Goo has her job,
and like gen Z, this whole kind of exiting college
and getting a job. Self advocacy is something that I'm
(32:33):
going to consider more because gen Z hiring is having
a lot of issues when it comes to taking breaks
and having work loads, and you're young, you're in the office,
so they're gonna throw a lot out you and be like, oh,
they can do that, they can do this, they can
do that. But when you're used to having four consistent
years of a break or just your own autonomy and
(32:56):
that type of thing, it's a hard transition to go
into a place where you have to then prove that
you need a break. But everybody needs one, and so
I think just having a level of self advocacy and
also just setting out on peers who might be in
a samary situation in their workplace, no matter what kind
of occupation we're in, two just it's gonna be hard,
(33:18):
it's gonna be difficult, but you need a break, and
if you're not getting opportunity to do so because of
such a situation, then you know you have to be
an advocate for yourself and make sure that that happens.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
Thank you so much for sharing that. It has been
so much fun to hear more about all of the
things that y'all have done for spring break and thoughts
that you have around spring breaks for the future. But
as we wrap up, please remind us where we can
find you online, GIA, if you'll start by sharing any
social media channels you'd like to share, you.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Guys can find me at Gyrina on all socials. On LinkedIn,
it is Jaya bacon So first named j Ya renee
r e n e e E on Instagram and TikTok
and I am currently building a website for college students
surrounding around internship, scholarships, fellowships and mental health resources. I
am calling it this Sunday Spread, so that will be
(34:10):
available very soon and if you guys go follow that
instam as well.
Speaker 2 (34:13):
Perfect, what about you, MICHAELA Yeah, So across my platforms,
LinkedIn is just my first last name. It it's Michayla
m I k n y l an you weary w
E n r O y. I share all the things
that I'm organizing and accomplishments and stuff like that on there.
Then if you want to follow my Instagram or I
post on my creative work, it is at b dot
(34:36):
MV stands with black or the Berry. That is my
independent curation and media company. So if you want to
follow that, please do it.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Perfect and Fatima yes.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
On LinkedIn and you can find me at my full name,
so it's Fatima of A t I m A z
z A h r A and Cassine k A s
s I M. If you're looking for me on Instagram,
it's Zara z a h r A A dot My
last name Cassim k A s s I M. And
(35:10):
I'm looking to be more active on my website. I
have a website where I post different political and social
issues surrounding black and diaspora places, and you can find
that at kodzar dot com, which is k O y
I d A z h r a dot com beautiful.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
We will be sure to include all of those in
the show notes. Thank y'all so much for spending some
time with me again today. I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (35:37):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:42):
I'm so glad the counsel was able to join me
for today's conversation. Their honesty about navigating expectations, finances, and
mental health during this time of year is such a
powerful reminder that spring break doesn't have to look one way.
Whether you're traveling, staying home, working, or resting, you deserve
to choose what's to what's your well being. If you'd
like to learn more about tvgu or explore more of
(36:05):
our resources, visit the website at Therapy for Blackgirls dot com.
Slash TVGU and don't forget to text this episode to
two of your girls right now. This episode was produced
by Elise Ellis, Indi Chubu, and Tyrie Rush. Editing was
done by Dennis and Bradford. Thank y'all so much for
joining me for another episode of TVGU. I look forward
to continue in this conversation with you all real soon.
(36:27):
Take it game,
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