Although Labor Day may just seem like another holiday on the calendar, the celebrations go all the way back to 1882.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, “Observed the first Monday in September, Labor Day is an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers.”
Labor Day weekend provides Ohio University students with Monday off, giving them an extra day to adjust to the start of the semester. Because days off can be rare in college, students are not shy about taking advantage of the day off.
Thaissa Santos, a sophomore studying international business and marketing, plans to catch up on some sleep.
Caroline Belo, a sophomore studying business analytics, strategic leadership and management, said most students are visiting other schools.
“I think most students are either going to go home or to visit other colleges and visit their friends, like I already know some people who are going to Cincy, like a lot of people go to OSU and a lot of people go home,” Belo said.
Santos and Belo discussed they enjoy the day off despite it being early in the semester.
“I enjoy the day off early in the school year, because even though it’s syllabus week coming back and getting thrown into all of your classes and then having this extra long break is like okay I can catch up … it’s honestly relieving,” Santos said.
Belo said the extra day off gives her time to get back into the school mindset.
“For me, the shock of coming back to school after classes and I already have hella homework too, so I need that day to get back in the mindset,” Belo said.
Santos mentioned she doesn’t mind coming back to school before Labor Day, as many other colleges start in August.
“I’d rather have my summer start earlier than it end later … everyone else goes back the same time as us, so then you’re like, left at home alone with none of your friends,” Santos said. “I feel like most people already just want to be here anyway.”
Although some students may use the day off to catch up on homework and readjust to the start of the school year, some students engage in the social life of OU.
Penelope Martir, an undecided freshman, believes many students will be going out.
“Probably get f---ed up,” Matir said. “If I’m being quite candid, I would say, probably causing mischief and mayhem, getting drunk … ”
According to a study conducted by professors from Old Dominion University, college students are likely to engage in heavy drinking during days off due to holidays.
“Findings suggest that specific holidays (i.e., MLK Day only, MLK Day, and the Superbowl, Labor Day, and Presidents Day) were associated with greater alcohol use and negative consequences.”
Like others, Martir also enjoys the extra day off in the semester, discussing that although she is a freshman, it allows her to get more comfortable with her surroundings.
“I would say it’s a pretty nice thing to have an extra day to relax and explore the school, especially for us little freshmen,” Matir said. “We’re still little babies, so we don’t really have a lot of opportunities to free roam like a chicken. So I would say it's a good thing.”
