"My break was extremely uneventful which is a great thing. It's a time to recoup, get everything together, and generate some new motivation for the new semester."
-Noah, sophomore economic and philosophy double major
Check out the first edition of our photo blog by staff photographer Bader Abdulmajeed. This week he walked around campus and talked to students about music, winter break, mental health and more.
“People think that when I play outside that I’m showing off, but I’m just doing it outside to practice because if I do it inside of my claustrophobic room, I get all depressed. I have been seeking places to play outside on campus and, for now, Forbes overpass is where I play about 4 hours a day. I have been kicked out of the bookstore on Fifth and Towers before, so this is the place when I can play without getting kicked out and that also has wall plug.” -Ryan, junior undeclared major“Winter break has been stressful for me since I just transferred from Gettysburg College this semester. I had to get used to the different environment of being in an actual city. I am very passionate about mental health and breaking the stigmas that we have. I have always been an advocate for taking care of ourselves mentally, and for me that comes in the from of meditation. I meditate 5-10 minutes a day using an app called Headspace which guides you through different exercises.” -Claire, first-year history and english literature double major“I always look forward to break. I would rather be with my family than anywhere else. I spend my time either cooking with my family or having fun at work because I have so many friends at my job. However, I know more people who, as soon as they get back home, they say “I’m done with this.”” -Ana, sophomore english literature major“I had a very stressful break with my family. I personally find prioritizing myself and have a clear conversation with my family has helped me a lot and I encourage others to do it.” -Sabrina, senior political science and sociology double major“It has been a long day, I’m a student teacher at a high school and I’ve been up since 5:30 a.m., and [I’m] done here at Pitt at 8:30 p.m. I really enjoy teaching so I’m sleepy when I wake [up], I’m dreading it in the car, but as soon as I walk through the doors, I’m like “Yeah, this is what I want to be doing,” and the students definitely make it worthwhile.” -Francesca, MFA student studying science education
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Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity.