October is infamous for countless sleep-deprived students stuck in the library or in their dorm rooms, frantically studying for midterm exams and finishing up essays at the last minute.

Luckily for Whitties, fall break 2010 arrives just in time to give students a much-needed break from the pressures of college life, kicking off on Saturday, Oct. 9 and extending until Tuesday, Oct. 12.

Fall semester works its way slowly into the year and hits highs in the middle of October and December, when students have been away from home and have not had an extended period of time to relax for some time.

Jeremy Schofield has been feeling the tension of losing sleep, being a first-year college student far away from home.

“I definitely have been feeling sleep deprived and tired lately,” he said. “Fall break is really good because it gives us some relaxation and sleep time, which is really nice.”

Similar to Schofield, many students across campus lack sleep during the first month of the fall semester and choose to sleep in and catch up.

According to an article in the Journal of Adolescent Health published in August 2009, 68 percent of 1,125 college students asked about their sleep patterns reported that stress about school and day-to-day life keep them awake at night. Similarly, 20 percent reported that they stay up all night at least once a month and 35 percent stay up until 3 a.m. at least once a week.

Sophomore Joyce Chen, whose family lives in Taiwan, cannot go home for the break but has made plans to sleep, hang out with friends and catch up on her schoolwork.

“I’m looking forward to watching movies with friends and sleeping in,” she said.  “It’s a good break; it gives me time to take a break to breathe.”

In the fall of 2002, Whitman College made the decision to extend one weekend in October to create a four-day fall break. This decision came as a result of the increasing stress on both faculty and students as well as the pressure put on the administration by students requesting time off.

Registrar Ron Urban, who has been at Whitman since 1984, has seen the effects of the implementation of a fall break. He feels that the extended weekend is not only beneficial for students to relax, but also for faculty to catch up and unwind.

“[The break] allows faculty to develop time to set up their ideas, and catch up on grading that they’ve had to set aside,” he said.

Urban also feels that because the reputation and standards of Whitman College has increased, a period of relaxation is needed to get through the next half of the semester.

“Stress levels have increased as a result of increased standards, so it’s important for everyone to take some time away, for relaxation,” he said.

Whitman College is one of very few colleges in Washington state that offer a fall break; others include the University of Puget Sound and Trinity Lutheran College. Along the West Coast, Reed College, Willamette University and Claremont McKenna College also have extended fall breaks.

Students at Reed, who have a full week off, have similarly positive views about their break. Senior Ethan Knudson, a sociology major at Reed, is grateful to have the chance to assemble his senior thesis and visit friends.

“I need a week to get my life in order, and I have things to pull together,” he said.

Chuck Cleveland, dean of students, notices an emotional difference in students after they have come back from the four-day weekend.

“I think what the weekend does [is] build up excitement; when students come back they’re more relaxed.”

Urban agrees.

“There are nothing but sighs of relief from the faculty and students,” he said.