The All-Star Break

            As I sit here getting ready to watch the playoffs for Major League Baseball, with the San Francisco Giants matching up against the Cincinnati Reds, I realize that pitchers in baseball, in many ways, are just like college students.  Both work very hard, many hours of the day, practicing their skills.  Pitchers have their fastball, their curveball, their changeup; College students have calculus, English, chemistry.  They are tested on these skills day in and day out, with pitchers going up against hitters and students facing exams, papers, and projects.  If they study up and do their homework, they will increase their chances of succeeding, and ultimately will be rewarded with wins and good grades respectively.  If they do well enough on their work, it may even help them get a job for years to come.  But college students, like baseball players, sometimes get tired of the daily grind.  All of the hours start to pile up and it begins to weigh down on them.  For baseball players, the solution is days off, and once in the middle of the year, the all-star break.  In the same light, college students need their days off, their all-star break.  That is why this Friday, we college students need the day off from classes, we need our all-star break.  For baseball players, the all-star break is a chance to refresh and recharge, both mentally and physically. They can go home and be with their family and not have to focus on baseball.  When they come back they are fresh and ready to go, good as new.  The first few months of the school year have been great and we have certainly worked hard and learned a lot, but we need a break.  Allowing us to have Friday off would give us a chance, like the baseball players, to refresh and take our minds off of all the work.  When we come back we will fresh and ready to, good as new.