By Jenna Kaufman
Staff Writer

Spring break is a time of warm weather, silly teenagers, crowded beaches, and students desperate for a good time. But who made all of the Spring break traditions?
Originally, Spring break was a few days off from school to spend time at home, with family for Easter. It was a relaxing vacation to sit back and enjoy a peaceful few days away from stress, work, and school. Needless to say, it has drastically changed.
The first Spring Break took place in 1935, when a swimming coach from Colgate University took his athletes to Fort Lauderdale Beach to compete.
Spring Break didn’t gain its overbearing popularity until 1958 when an english professor tagged along to Fort Lauderdale to see what his students were buzzing about. Surrounded by out of control partiers, it was clear that the conservative Easter recess had become something very different.
Immediately upon returning home, Professor Swarthout wrote a book, “Where the Boys Are,” which was later turned into a song by Connie Francis, as well as movie which Francis played the female lead.
“That was where life imitated art,” said John Laurie, a business consultant at the Kauffman Foundation, in an article in the New York Times Magazine by Pagan Kennedy. According to Laurie, after the movie came out in 1960, the previous 20,000 students, became 50,000 migrating to the Florida Beaches to experience the jaw dropping excitement they had seen on screen.
“My last [spring break] was Panama City Beach, Fla., which was then the spring-break capital of the world,” stated Laurie, “After college, you can’t go to spring break anymore. It’s no longer socially acceptable. When it’s done, it’s done, and — at least for you — it’s not coming back.”
As if the student population wasn’t already overwhelming down south, the televised broadcast of MTV’s first annual “Spring Break” special aired in ‘86; the attention drawn to spring break had more than doubled.
“I’ve never done anything for spring break, but a lot of my friends have gone to Punta Cana or Cancun,” said Catherine Murphy, a Neshaminy Graduate of the class of 2011. “All kids go on a crazy extravagant spring break trip- do some stupid things and post everything on social media,” Murphy said.
Today more than 500,000 students are getting ready for their trip to Panama City, Fl., Cancun Mexico, South Padre Island, and many other beaches throughout the south, while others are keeping it traditional with a few days of hitting the snooze button in their bed at home.