Spring break isn't necessarily a time to party, especially for some resident assistants who have to forgo spring break parties in Mexico to stay on duty in the halls.
Each residence hall requires at least one resident assistant to be on duty during spring break. Since most residents go home for the weeklong break, this leaves many RAs searching for ways to fight the spring break solitude.
A.J. Duxbury, a creative writing junior and Graham-Greenlee Residence Hall RA, said she volunteered to stay for part of the break because no one was willing to stay the entire week.
"There are quite a few books I've accumulated over this semester for my own reading," Duxbury said of her spring break plans.
Duxbury added that she won't be confined to the hall during the daytime, as RAs are allowed to leave as long as they are able to return within 15 minutes of being paged.
Dan Tuttle, Residence Hall Association president, said the residence halls remain open during spring break in order to accommodate international students and students who cannot go home.
"There are a fair number of people who don't have the financial means, or there are family matters," he said.
Pamela Obando, associate director of marketing for Residence Life, said approximately 10 percent of the students who live in the residence halls will remain on campus over the break.
Lana Yoshimura, hall director for Maricopa Residence Hall, said she let her staff decide on the spring break schedule. Although Yoshimura will not be on campus next week, she said her staff is well trained and a hall director will always be on call.
For larger residence halls, two RAs are required to be on duty, while smaller halls will only have one. Although residence halls usually have several RAs who alternate shifts during the week, that choice is left to each individual hall. Arizona-Sonora Residence Hall will be alternating eight RAs, but Cochise Residence Hall will only use one.
David Smith, a business administration junior and an RA at Cochise, said he agreed to cover other RAs' shifts for the week because his girlfriend would be in Tucson.
"I just wanted to make sure that everyone else had a really good spring break," he said.
Kimberly Steward, a civil engineering junior and an RA at Gila Residence Hall, said if she wasn't working next week, she would go to Mexico. But in exchange for being on duty over spring break, Steward gets additional weekends off to travel to Portland, Ore., and California.
"I don't mind being on duty over break ... I'll probably just watch movies and hang out," said Steward, who is planning a movie night for the few residents who remain in the hall.
Andrew Puza, an aerospace and mechanical engineering junior and Babcock Residence Hall RA, preferred to go home for Thanksgiving, so he made the choice to stay for spring break. Puza said he plans to hang out and play video games with residents, but said it's "no big deal" because he had nothing better to do.