If the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team has taught us anything so far this season, it is that high expectations can only lead to heartbreak.

One minute you’re on top of the world, sitting pretty on a 24-0 record, and the next minute you’ve got Papa Boeheim getting escorted out of Cameron Indoor Stadium by a police officer. And then, a week later, you’re losing your last home game to a school that has “tech” in its name. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Unrealistic expectations can be dangerous, and a loss to Georgia Tech might be the kick in the pants students need before a week where the danger of too-high expectations is officially in the red zone: Spring Break.

It’s easy to hype it up, but slow your roll before you get your hopes too high. Spring Break can be great, and fun and relaxing, but it’s most enjoyed when you approach break preparations realistically.

To understand the difference between the Spring Break Dream and the Spring Break Reality, we must first explore the two worlds.

The Spring Break Dream takes several different forms. It can be a bikini- or speedo-related dream, where your plans before break involve going to the gym every day. You’ll spend at least an hour there, starting with some blood-pumping cardio and ending with a great lifting session.

You’ll eat incredibly healthy, so that when you get to Barbados with your friends, you will be looking like something out of the SI: Swimsuit Edition. You will tan evenly, and everyone on the beach will adore you.

Perhaps your dream break involves intellect and creativity. A dream where you get to do all that outside-the-classroom learning you haven’t had time for all semester: better stock up on all the George Saunders and Dave Eggers books you just haven’t had time to read.

Starting with Eggers’ “Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” seems like an appropriate choice, because it ultimately describes how you view your own abilities. Finally, you wipe your desktop clean because you are going to get so much writing done this break — you’ll barely have enough room to store all of the fresh and creative content!

It could even be a dream of saving people and communities — one where you get to go on that Habitat for Humanity trip you keep hearing about and you change the world. Screw working on your résumé and catering your every move toward getting you a job in this big bad bureaucratic world; you’re going to go out there build something with your hands and change some small child’s life.

Now, let’s backtrack and explore the Spring Break Reality.

The beach-goers will, in fact, go to the gym — once. Cardio will come to an abrupt and unceremonious halt when you realize that if you run more than one mile, your heart is going to actually stop. And that healthy diet will fly out the window when one of your midterms goes badly and you realize there’s ice cream in your fridge and a “Law and Order: SVU” marathon on TV.

And you bookworms, you’re no better. You are going to buy all of the books, but while engaging in avid Internet research on each of the authors you decide to read, you will notice time to actually read starts slipping away. Just like watching YouTube interviews with authors isn’t the same as reading their books, watching “Capote” isn’t really the same as writing.

On a related note, watching “Almost Famous” or “All the President’s Men” isn’t the same as writing an enterprise story, journalism nerds.

And you Habitat for Humanity hopefuls: well, you’ll come to the conclusion that helping your parents paint the living room is making a difference too — and is way cheaper. The small child will still be there after graduation.

I’m not saying don’t aim high, Spring Breakers; just add a dose of self-awareness to your tequila-heavy beachside margaritas this year.

Chelsea DeBaise is a senior at Syracuse University. She is pretty excited for her Syracuse staycation next week, and will likely be getting down Risky Business style in her apartment. She can be reached via email at cedebais@syr.edu, or via Twitter @CDeBaise124. 

Published on March 6, 2014 at 1:00 am