Many people on campus have heard the exciting stories of “Breckenridge Break” from the current senior class. With the changes to the academic calendar next year, Block 4 will be split in half and thus, the skiing tradition will likely return!
As the Block Plan must work with the unchanging 12-month calendar, the same schedule will only appear every six to 11 years, and every 28 years for the leap year. Making sure that New Student Orientation and Commencement fall on roughly the same weekends each year makes it difficult to be flexible with holiday breaks. No serious changes were made to the calendar, but there were some logistical challenges that the administration had to overcome.
The 2019 fall term will include a Block Break immediately before Block 4, followed by one week of Block 4 before fall break. In the past three years, Third Block Break has been combined with fall break, so this change will technically shorten fall break. However, this creates an opportunity for students to take one last camping trip before winter really sets in, or to venture out to Breckenridge and start off the ski season.
Alexander Makic ’19, coleader of the Free Riders Union of CC and an avid skier, commented on this schedule change when he said, “I think it’s amazing that without a club or official group organizing the event — as far as I’m concerned — that a significant amount of people collectively get together, essentially creating Breck Break. It’s just a great time with groups of friends from all different grades getting together and shredding Breck. To me, it’s a place where earlier friendships start to emerge because it’s so early in the year!”
While CC has the typical programming planned for this extra Block Break, many students in the past have taken it upon themselves to organize school-wide events. Block Breaks are an incredible time that demonstrate how collaborative and supportive our campus is, and the excitement we all share to get out into the world.
Bailey Burrows ’21, who has only experienced the schedule of the past two years, commented “I’ve heard so many good things about this extra Block Break and I can’t wait for the opportunity to explore Colorado even further, whether it’s in the deserts or the mountains.”
Whether students decide to reorganize the early season ski trip, head to the sand dunes one last time, or just sleep for four days, this extra break will provide one last chance for student-run freedom before fall and winter break.
