How students and teachers relaxed over the break

By Joshua C., Karen O., Axel G., Salvador G, Ernesto H., and Ley V.

With so much time on their hands, CATS students shared how they made the most of their winter break.

For senior Abigail S., going to the park with her Doberman and playing catch became a habit. She said lying on the grass and looking at the sky “was nice, really relaxing. Especially on the rainy days, because there was no sun.”

Fellow senior Gizelle D. kept it simple. “I got to stay home rather than go to school and relax more in my bed and got more time with my kittens,” she said. Another 12th grader Donna R. agreed, saying, “it was very relaxing not having to wake up early, staying up late, and not having to come to school in general.”

Graphic design teacher Mr. Octavio Monteon said, “I focused on doing nothing because I’m always doing something. This time I just stayed in tune and present, not worrying about having to do this or that, just relaxing.” He also shared that he wasn’t able to do much because of a bicycle injury.

While some stayed home or relaxed, others took part in outside activities.

Junior Victor M. said, “I went to a rodeo, I saw horses race at different times.” But he said he didn’t enjoy not being able to hang out with his friends.

Environmental science teacher Ms. Sanchez said, “My favorite thing that I did is go to work out and explore LA.” She added that she went to different coffee shops.

The winter break has its benefits for the students. It gives them time off and time to spend with family or whoever they would like to spend their winter break with. However, winter break also has its disadvantages, from sleeping to the weather.

“Winter break affected my sleeping schedule badly,” said senior Erick B. “I would sleep around 2 am and other times I would even go to sleep around 4 am.”

Staying up late can really affect students when coming back to school.

“My sleep schedule during break did affect my school schedule because I was getting around 1-2 hours of sleep before coming to school. So I was very tired and sleeping in some of my classes,” senior Alan C. admitted.

He added that “fixing my sleep schedule definitely came to mind many times, but it’s easier said than done.”

For others, the rainy weather has a negative impact. “The weather did affect most of the plans I made,” said senior Axel C. “I would often plan to go somewhere or do something but the rain would throw it off or mess it up, which really sucked.”