UMD students take on fall break
By Karianna McKenna
October 27, 2025
Photo Credit: Karianne McKenna
2025 marks the first year of a fall break being implemented for students and staff, which took place on Oct. 13 and 14. This amounted to a four-day weekend for students and a three-day weekend for faculty, making time for leisure and an overall recharge.
Maryland Today shared an article regarding the change, including the process of President Darryll J. Pines making the decision.
For years, various groups throughout campus, such as student-run governments, councils and the Residence Hall Association, have advocated for a fall break, and their persistence led to President Pines’ adjustment of the calendar.
Starting in 2025 and every academic year moving forward, the second Monday and Tuesday of October will be UMD’s fall break. This alteration worked to both please students and “remain[s] in alignment with [the] academic mission and university and state policies,” President Pines said. “We hope this extra time off will help our community members focus on their well-being.”
Some students, such as freshman journalism major Mia Dubin, took the four-day weekend as an opportunity to travel home and reconnect with family and friends.
“I got to celebrate an early birthday with my family, see my dog, go to some of my favorite restaurants and catch up on TV shows,” Dubin said.
While many students traveled back home, the trip wasn’t an easy feat for those who live far from UMD.
Freshman journalism major Ana Gonzalez is an international student who experienced fall break from the opposite side of the spectrum: staying on campus. She shared her experience exploring areas around UMD and College Park given the downtime during the break.
“Being alone and seeing no one around campus was actually really peaceful,” Gonzalez said.
While the shorter breaks -Thanksgiving recess and now fall break- are inconvenient times for students to travel long distances, Terps are given an opportunity during winter break with five weeks of time off.
“I do miss my family… but having the expectation that I will be seeing my parents over Christmas break is so much fun,” Gonzalez said.
Whether Terps remained on campus or visited their hometowns, fall break proved itself to be a necessary recharge. It allowed there to be some time off between midterms as well, with testing occurring during the week before break as well as the weeks following it.
“Since I never had [a fall break] in high school, it was never something I really thought of. But now that we have it, I can’t imagine not having it,” Dubin said.
Maryland Today shared an article regarding the change, including the process of President Darryll J. Pines making the decision.
For years, various groups throughout campus, such as student-run governments, councils and the Residence Hall Association, have advocated for a fall break, and their persistence led to President Pines’ adjustment of the calendar.
Starting in 2025 and every academic year moving forward, the second Monday and Tuesday of October will be UMD’s fall break. This alteration worked to both please students and “remain[s] in alignment with [the] academic mission and university and state policies,” President Pines said. “We hope this extra time off will help our community members focus on their well-being.”
Some students, such as freshman journalism major Mia Dubin, took the four-day weekend as an opportunity to travel home and reconnect with family and friends.
“I got to celebrate an early birthday with my family, see my dog, go to some of my favorite restaurants and catch up on TV shows,” Dubin said.
While many students traveled back home, the trip wasn’t an easy feat for those who live far from UMD.
Freshman journalism major Ana Gonzalez is an international student who experienced fall break from the opposite side of the spectrum: staying on campus. She shared her experience exploring areas around UMD and College Park given the downtime during the break.
“Being alone and seeing no one around campus was actually really peaceful,” Gonzalez said.
While the shorter breaks -Thanksgiving recess and now fall break- are inconvenient times for students to travel long distances, Terps are given an opportunity during winter break with five weeks of time off.
“I do miss my family… but having the expectation that I will be seeing my parents over Christmas break is so much fun,” Gonzalez said.
Whether Terps remained on campus or visited their hometowns, fall break proved itself to be a necessary recharge. It allowed there to be some time off between midterms as well, with testing occurring during the week before break as well as the weeks following it.
“Since I never had [a fall break] in high school, it was never something I really thought of. But now that we have it, I can’t imagine not having it,” Dubin said.