Students express difficulty of using fall reading break to rest amid midterms

For many students, this upcoming fall reading break is not a true escape from the stresses of schoolwork.

After decades of student lobbying, UBC’s first fall reading break was implemented in 2021 due to mental health concerns for students. However, amid the busy midterm season, many students opt to use the time for studying, calling into question whether the break has achieved its goal of alleviating student mental health issues.

This year, students have a five-day stretch from November 9 to 13 with no scheduled classes, but this also includes the Remembrance Day long weekend, making it only two official days off provided by UBC.

Luca Schergen, a third-year media studies student, said fall reading break is “not even [long] enough to catch your breath.”

“The two topics that always come up when talking about the upcoming reading break is basically how it’s way too short, and how [students] have so much stuff to do during it,” said Schergen.

When asked about his plans for reading break, he said because of ongoing assignments, he would be lucky if he had one afternoon free of schoolwork.

“The stress and anxiety I feel around assignments, deadlines, etc., during the reading break — it’s probably just as much before and after … It doesn’t relieve me. It also, to be fair, doesn’t make it worse,” he said.

Nargess Shokouhian, a second-year sociology student, plans to go away to visit her friend for a week. However, despite her plans for a fun break, it comes at the pressure of working harder beforehand to earn it.

“I’m excited [for my trip], but I’m definitely worried. I think I’m gonna have to do more prep,” Shokouhian said. “I do feel like I need to get on [top of] my studies in order to have fun.”

Both Schergen and Shokouhian pointed out that many classes schedule midterm exams directly after the break or make assignments due during the break, making it difficult for students to halt their studies.

Dr. Steven Barnes, a UBC psychology professor, agreed.

“I think what’s less important is where and when [and] whether there’s a break, and more important [is] what’s happening after it,” he said.

Barnes spoke about UBC’s scheduling of midterms, which unlike final exams, are uncontrolled. While UBC policy states that students who have three or more final exams within a 24-hour period are eligible for new examination dates, there are no regulations on the number or frequency of midterms a student may have in a term. Barnes said the stress levels of students are concentrated around the middle of the term, which is likely due to an exam season where a high number of midterms are crammed within a few weeks.

Additionally, he noted the “trickle-down effect” of technology in the classroom. The pace of a lecture used to be limited by the speed of a professor writing on a chalkboard, but now as professors click quickly through long slideshows packed with information, Barnes said the amount of content students must study has significantly increased.

Both Schergen and Shokouhian would like to see a longer fall reading break, ideally a full week like Term 2’s February reading break.

Drédyn Fontana, AMS VP academic and university affairs and applied science student senator, said extending the fall reading break inevitably results in academic trade-offs that will disadvantage other students.

He emphasized that accredited degree programs require a specific number of instructional hours. To abide by this regulation, UBC must make up for the teaching days lost from an extended reading break, likely by shortening exam periods. However, this results in more students having back-to-back final exams. In 2021, the winter exam period was already shortened from 16 to 12 consecutive days in order to create the fall reading break.

Alternatively, Fontana said another option to make up the days is to start the term earlier in late August.

“I do think [having a reading break] is better for mental health, but I think there’s not a perfect solution,” said Fontana. “I hesitate to commit to one way or the other, because there’s trade-offs for a lot of different people.”

Fontana said since the policy regarding reading break was reviewed recently in 2020, it is unlikely to be reviewed again soon to make space for reviewing other policies to benefit students.

“But in my ideal picture of a university, you are able to have a full week in each term, a full week to recuperate.”

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