It’s official. All the countdowns, calendar markings and general head bangings into the wall can stop because spring break is finally upon us. After another grim Iowa winter, we have certainly earned the reprieve. That being said, this board has become accustomed to seeing all your smiling faces and reading your lovely letters. With that said, we’d love to see them all again once we return from break, so stay safe wherever you may be and however you may be celebrating.

This is in no way a plea for you to sit inside with a good book and stay out of trouble because no one expects that from 35,000 students who have just endured a Hoth-like climate to stay cooped up inside. But with the power of roaming free on the countryside of Tennessee or planting your rear end in the sand in Florida comes great responsibility.

At this point in the editorial, we’d like to refer you to our great friends at just about every alcohol-producing in company in the country. From those weird palm trees donned with Christmas lights from Malibu to the Dos Equis most interesting man in the world: Enjoy responsibly.

Whether you’re on a beach or just sitting at home with friends, practice the same safe drinking practices that you would if it were just any other week of the year.

By all means go out, blow off steam, procrastinate that paper that’s due the Monday you get back from break. Just make sure you make it back to write that paper. In a study done in March 2014 by the Schackow and Mercadante Law Firm in Gainesville, Fla., it was reported that 40 percent of 782 those surveyed said “they drank until they became sick or passed out at least once.” Of the same study, 40 percent of men and 33 percent of women reported being drunk each day of Spring Break.

The study also showed that the average male drank about 18 drinks each day and a female drank about 10 drinks each day. It’s all fun and games until someone makes an unexpected trip to get their stomach pumped.

There is no reason not to enjoy yourself, but make plans to do so responsibly so you can come back and enjoy Spring Break again next year. 

You’ve worked hard and earned this time of fun and frolicking. But remember your life is about much more than Spring Break. Take full advantage of your time off, but make it back to Ames safe.