Fredericton students on both ends of the hill are supporting the University of New Brunswick Student Union’s plebiscite for a fall reading week.
Third-year STU student Emma Dufresne said a fall reading week would be beneficial for students.
“We all need a break sometimes,” she said. “Some people don’t know how to [take a break on their own] and therefore burn out.”
Dufresne said giving students a full week break in the first semester along with the second one is also important when talking about mental health.
“When trying to think of ways on how to end the mental health stigma, giving students not only a break in the spring but in the fall, would be crucial for everyone to have a week of catching up,” Dufresne said.
UNBSU is using a plebiscite, the direct vote of all members of an electorate, to get the notion off the ground.
Sam Titus, St. Thomas University Students’ Union vice-president education, said the plebiscite is a good idea.
“I think it looks like a really good step that they’re taking. It looks like they’re addressing a lot of problems like student mental health, the stress that students often face around this time of year, and fall reading week is something that a lot of people have been pushing for.”
Both universities have tacked on an extra day to the Remembrance Day weekend the last couple of years. Titus said expanding that to a full week would be ideal because students could maximize the number of tasks they need to accomplish.
“If you just have a three-day weekend, I guess, it tends to be occupied almost entirely by catching up on sleep,” he said.
“Everyone says they’re going to work really hard on long weekends, and then nobody ever does, but if you have a week break, you have the chance to catch up on some sleep and actually do work.”
Holly Campbell, a third-year UNB student, said the week would help her keep her sanity in check.
“University students that do well typically work hard, despite some stereotypes,” she said.
“Students do not have enough time in the day, which is why we’re all stressed, we don’t eat well, we are not well-rested, and why we all have slight caffeine addictions.”
Campbell said she often finds herself feeling overwhelmed as soon as the second week of classes. She said a fall reading week would be ideal for catching up on papers, life and to avoid falling behind so soon.
“Any amount of time that could be given to students would be appreciated to do all of the things that we miss out on while we spend countless nights in the library,” Campbell said.
“The extra time would provide the potential to allow students to come back to finish the semester with a rested mind and likely a better attitude.”
Titus said there is already a policy asking for something like this full week break, and if STUSU were to follow suit, its strategy would be the same model as UNBSU is using.
“By doing it through plebiscite, they’re kind of bringing it back to the forefront of students’ thought, and making it so that if it does come down to a referendum, let’s say, or if it gets turned down by the university, they have more backing from the students,” he said.
Dufresne said having a reading week mid-semester around Remembrance Day would be perfect for students.
“This would be approximately a month before exams start giving students, hopefully, enough time to catch up on school work or even family,” she said.
“With a week-long break, this could give enough time for students to reenergize to prepare for the last month of classes, just like what March break does for me.”
