EveryyearinlateApril,studentsatRenminUniversityofChinabecomethesubjectsofadmirationandjealousyoftheirpeersonothercampusesinBeijing.Why?Becausetheygetaweekoffinthemiddleofterm,theso-calledspringbreak.“I

　　EveryyearinlateApril,studentsatRenminUniversityofChinabecomethesubjectsofadmirationandjealousyoftheirpeersonothercampusesinBeijing.Why?Becausetheygetaweekoffinthemiddleofterm,theso-calledspringbreak.

　　“It’sbeenauniquetraditionofourschoolforadecade,”saidWangYueran,20,ajournalismmajoratRenminUniversity,whoorganizedaweeklongtriptoSichuanwith12classmateslastyear.

　　Buthavingfunisjustonedimensionofthespringbreak.Fieldtrips,voluntarywork,andsocialprojectsareallonstudents’to-dolists.Expertssaythespringbreakisnotjustforstudentstoenjoyafewdaysoff,butforthemtogainnewexperiencesbeyondthecampuswalls.

　　Pushthemout

　　ThetraditionalChinesebeliefoftheexplorationofknowledgeandtruthemphasizes“reading10,000booksandtraveling10,000miles”,whichindicatestheimportanceofexperienceasmuchastheory.ButwhileChineseuniversitieshavethetraditionofspringoutings,what’sthebenefitofmakingspringbreakaninstitution?

　　QinJianguo,ofthestudentaffairsofficeatShenzhenUniversity,thinkstheideaofthespringbreakinsomeuniversitiesinChinacomesfromtheintentionofpushingstudentsoutofthe ivorytower toexperiencemore diversity intheirlives.

　　“Taketravelingforexample.Aweektravelingisaverydifferentexperiencetoaone-ortwo-dayouting,”saidQin.“Studentsareexpectedtoacquirethespiritofteamworkandcompromise,andlearnsurvivalandcommunicationskillswhenputoutthereinanunfamiliarcontext.”

　　Diverseapproaches

　　Manycountrieshavesimilarvacationsinthemiddleofthesemesterforstudentstodothingsoutoftheirowninterest.TakingJapanasanexample,insteadofpartyingliketheirUScounterparts,manyJapanesestudentschoosetoworkasinternsorengageinstudy-relatedprojects.

　　“Thespringbreakisanopportunityformanyofourstudentstoputtheirlearningtouse,”saidHiroshiKanno,deanoftheGraduateSchoolofInternationalCorporateStrategyatHitotsubashiUniversity,intheschool’sdescriptionofarecentspringbreakproject.

　　AsforChinesestudentswhotakeaweekoffaroundtheLaborDayholiday,manytendtodovolunteerwork.DuanZhipeng,a22-year-ol