A beach does not necessarily a spring break make. So we asked some students, What made their spring break great?

Alas, one of the answers was unprintable. Wasn’t he worried his mother would read this publication? Well we were, even if he wasn’t. So we blue-penciled the hot details. After all, this is not “Temptation Island.” But not everybody went someplace hot, hot, hot. Some headed for the cold, cold, cold and some just headed for home, where they still found some unexpected highlights that made their spring breaks special.

Phil Winslow, Wharton ’01
“I went to Arizona and I hit golf balls near Charles Barkley. He is a big fat man now.”

Johanna Goldstein, College ’02
“I basically became married with my best friend in Paris. We fought like an old couple.”

Rachel Belsky, College ’02
“I almost died on the mountain when I was skiing. It was blizzarding out, and the only way down was a double diamond, and I’m only an intermediate skier. But I didn’t cry. ”

Stephanie Lemelin, College ’01
“I went to my best friend’s spring break as well as my own — double the fun. We drove down the coast of Florida and camped out of my best friend’s car and met the most amazing people.”

Michelle Cates, Engineering ’02
“I went home — seeing my friends and family.”

Jeff Schoengold, College ’04
“Reconnecting with old high school flames.”

Nate Calhoun, College ’01
“Building a 7-foot-tall snow demon on top of a 250-foot cliff. It was visible for 30 miles around. Then some rednecks knocked it over — but after a lot of people had already seen it.”

Eric Risi, College ’04
“When it was sunny enough to go to the beach for the first time.”

Rachael Roewe, Wharton ’03
“Being stuck in a snowstorm near Des Moines. My sister and I had to sleep in the car because there were no hotel rooms and we debated whether the car would stay on all night or not. We didn’t know if we’d get carbon monoxide poisoning.”

Joel Rubin, College ’03
“Performing with Mask and Wig on tour. And Miami — scantily clad women on beaches were a lot of fun.”

Jonathan Bartolo, College ’03
“The clubs in Miami. Every club in Miami is better than anything in Philly.”

Ron Lin, College ’01
“I did a cave dive in Honduras. You’re inside a barrier reef and it’s really dark. You have a flashlight. It’s very surreal, like an out-of-body experience.”

-Katie Claypoole