TCU reinstated fall break in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the short break the year before. Since then, the midsemester pause has served as a time to refresh and prepare for the latter half of the semester.

Many students are taking advantage of this long weekend to mentally recharge.

Kyla Moberly, a junior biology major, is headed to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, for Christ Chapel’s annual trip.

“This will be my second year going on this trip,” Moberly said. “It’s nice to rest with the community that will build you up for the rest of your time at TCU.”

Some students are using the break to visit old friends.

“I’m going to the University of Georgia,” Riley Meikle, a junior movement science major, said. “I get to visit my best friend from back home.”

Meikle said it’s important to maintain her high school friendships, and fall break allows her to do that.

Other students are traveling to cheer on the Horned Frogs.

Brooke Nickell, a first-year journalism major, is headed to Manhattan, Kansas, to see TCU Football compete against Kansas State.

But not everyone is leaving campus. For many students, staying on campus for fall break is just as restorative.

Shannon Dawson, a sophomore nursing major, is staying on campus this year because traveling for a long weekend is too expensive.

She said still finds great value in the time off.

“I think it is important to have a break from classes to regroup and destress midsemester,” Dawson said. “It allows me to catch up on work and hang out with my friends.”

TCU also provides opportunities for students to get off the Fort Worth campus.

The Campus Recreation & Wellness Promotion is providing students with the opportunity to paddle at Mustang Island State Park in Corpus Christi.

TCU Student Affairs is offering an “alternative fall break” that gives students the option to volunteer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.