As the first semester came to a close and many students breathed their well earned sigh of relief after finals, how did some students wind down after such a stressful week of tests and presentations? There are many different things that we all do for entertainment, stress relief, and to just kill time. I asked a handful of students about what they had done over Winter break and the responses were a wide variety from playing games to getting extra hours of sleep.

“What Kills Time so Fast You Wouldn’t Even Know It?”

Sometimes when we are so enthralled into something we tend to ignore how much time we are wasting. A perfect example of this would be playing video games. I know that if I didn’t have a clock around me when playing video games, I would lose the concept of time. 

Katy Colindres is a junior at MHS. When asked about how she spent her Winter break, she responded by saying “I mainly spent a lot of time playing games like , Mario Kart, and Pokemon”.

“I’ve always had a fair interest in video games ever since I was little because games have always felt like little interactive movies to me,” Katy explains.

“I especially liked Minecraft because it was a way for me to be creative and do what I want and how I want to do it. If I want to build my home on a mountain I could, if I want to build my home in a cave I could”.

The kinds of games like Minecraft are just one of many games that can easily captivate you even if you play by yourself. Those types of games are powered by your imagination and nothing can hold you back from doing things that you like.

However, some games can just be mindless fun. These types of games powered by multiplayer and thrive when you play with friends. Abigail Villalvazo ,a junior, spent some of her time playing Halo Infinite with her friends.“My Friends and I mainly played a lot of Halo Infinite. The multiplayer consists of team player versus player. It can get chaotic and intense pretty fast so having friends to scream and play with makes it even more enjoyable!”

Whether its exploring caves for hidden treasures or battling another team to prove who is better, both can give out a sense of relief and enjoyment because you play a game in order to relax and have a small break from reality. However, video games aren’t the only way to have a small escape from reality.

“Binge Watching a Show is Totally Acceptable”

The majority of people have grown up watching shows or videos about something or someone trying to achieve something. As the audience we get invested into the characters’ lives and the decisions they make. It’s nice to have something to watch and get invested in. During the break, I myself spent a while watching The Office and getting invested with some of the characters’ stories. I enjoyed seeing the pranks Jim pulled on Dwight and the subplot between Michael and Holly. 

Abigail Flores is a junior at MHS and she spent some of her time watching  anime. One of those anime was Deathnote which is about a student who picks up a mysterious notebook and tries to change the world for the better by becoming a “god”.

“I really enjoyed Deathnote because the main story had a very interesting narrative. The motive behind Light’s actions are understandable and I like how it can give multiple points of views of whether what he is doing is actually good or bad.”

This anime is like a suspenseful drama making it a great first time watch for people who are looking for plot twists and smart planning. I can personally agree with what Abigail says because the first time I watched Deathnote it always had me wondering “What would happen next?” with the constant cat and mouse game between the 2 main protagonists.

Movies are also a great way to have fun and relieve yourself of stress. During the break I was able to watch Spider-man No Way Home and I would definitely recommend everyone to watch it even if you haven’t watched the first 2 movies. I will say it is definitely more appealing to watch if you grew up watching the other Spider-man films starring Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield.

Aleny Diaz is a Junior at MHS who adores the MCU films. When asked “What had she done over break?” She responded with “ I slept the entire time and on some days I watched the Marvel movies in order.” There are a total of 27 Marvel movies so I was appropriately shocked to hear this response. Aleny loves the Marvel films and when asked which one was her favorite she couldn’t give a definitive answer. However, she would recommend to watch Avengers: Infinity War since it was one of the films to have the most action and have a thrilling climax.

These kinds of movies are the type that people can get into without having to watch the very first in the cinematic universe. Sure you may miss out on references from previous movies but you can still get invested into the characters and the plot of the movie.