There’s been one question consistently asked around campus for the past few weeks: What are you doing for spring break?

I’ve asked it my share of times out of curiosity or for the sake of conversation. Every year, it looms up into the general subconscious like comments about the weather or presidential candidates. Well, here is what I’m doing for spring break: nothing.

I say that with no bitterness. My dad and I had planned to go camping in the Florida Keys for a week, but that fell through. And while that sucks, I’m not bitter about it. I stay so busy with school, the newspaper and my internship that I’m looking forward to a week of watching paint dry or finding shapes in the clouds.

In fact, I think that’s one thing I’ll enjoy most about this year’s spring break. During school, we get so caught up in work and routine. I feel we often lose track of appreciating little things in life. Oftentimes, I’ll look up at the sky and think, “Woah. When was the last time I actually stopped—just for a second—to look up?” It’s incredibly sad that I usually can’t remember.

I have a great admiration for the people who have the energy and selflessness to do things like Alternative Break Board or other community-based projects. I think, for those people, service is their version of “looking up.”

And I’m happy for the people with the money and time to spend a week at the beach/mountains/wherever.

For me, I just want to sit still. I just want to be. Sure a beach trip or a road trip would be great. But I’m pretty OK with floating down Cypress Creek, camping in Waterloo or sitting in Wildwood Park with a guitar and not going anywhere.

Don’t confuse this with laziness. I’ll still be working at my job. I’ll still be doing schoolwork. It’s not in my nature to stop moving. I’ve got the twitch of the Puritan Work Ethic, minus the extremism.

So, if you’re at home for spring break, and you’re bummed about it, don’t be. Just take some time to enjoy time. Hit the snooze button. Eat breakfast. Talk to your parents. Read a book. Do whatever.

Pretty soon, we’ll all be out of college and in the job market. We’ll have families and things going on, and “free time” will be our attempts to catch up on all the things that have piled up in the meantime.

Spring break 2012, for me, is going to be a week of rest and relaxation. I’ll use it as a time to cleanse myself from all the stress that has built up from all the overscheduling, overworking and overextending I’ve done since Christmas. I’ll do so much nothing, it’ll make school feel like therapy.

The best part is, I’ll be right here.

To contact Andy, call 256-765-5233 or you can follow him on Twitter at @TheFlorAndy.