Initially, Ross thinks his girlfriend is going on spring vacation – a nice, quiet intermission from the intense studies and perils of undergraduate life.,”

In one of my favorite episodes of "Friends," Ross learns a crucial distinction between two college terms of the utmost importance – "spring vacation" and "spring break."

Initially, Ross thinks his girlfriend is going on spring vacation – a nice, quiet intermission from the intense studies and perils of undergraduate life.

He soon discovers, however, that his girlfriend's actual plans are for spring break – a loud, drunken party that often ends in a whipped cream licking contest and general eww-ness. (Although, if you ask me, the fact that 30-something Ross is dating a 20-year-old student of his is the most eww-inducing part of this scenario.)

Throughout the episode, and consequently throughout my life ever after, any mention of spring break is immediately followed by "woo hoo!"

Yes, after all the midterm bluebooks are turned in and the bells toll one final time, Marquette students will set out for Mexico, Disney World or the suburbs of Chicago to celebrate the mid-March holiday of their choice – spring vacation or spring break. For those of you heading off to vacation, I hope you enjoy some quality downtime with your family. And for those of you braving the break, I hope your "woo hoo!" doesn't turn into "woo eww."

Personally, I guess I've always been a spring vacation kind of girl. Last year, I went to visit a friend in Arizona and my 21st birthday happened to fall while I was there. A spring break person would've done shots off someone's stomach, forced everyone to write a birthday message on her sparkly tank top and ended up pole dancing on a "Girls with Low Self-Esteem" video.

I bought a bottle of wine and drank it mixed with Sprite outside a Chipotle.

I don't need to bore anyone with statistics about the number of "Spring break, woo hoo!"-ers who get alcohol poisoning in Cancun or the average number of "Saved by the Bell" reruns a spring vacationer will watch over the course of the week. But despite the seeming disparity between spring breakers and vacationers, I think we can all benefit from asking ourselves this one question before fleeing Milwaukee on March 9: What's my age again?

That's right, that annoying blink-182 song from middle school has somehow found its way back into my head and I have in turn found a way to work it into my column so it will be in all of your heads as well. But I promise I have a point.

Spring vacationers tend to be a little old for their age. They are the people who have always preferred playing Boggle to playing beer pong. That might sound laughable to you spring breakers, but it's all well and good because the vacationers get to laugh at you when pictures of your it's-not-so-sexy-when-you're-sober-is-it table dance surface on Facebook.

Spring vacationers need to ask "What's my age again?" to remind themselves that they are young. Yes, I will be turning 22 next week, but that doesn't mean I can't engage in a little debauchery. Margaritas outside McDonalds, anyone?

And spring breakers tend to be a little young for their age. They are the people who could tell you every Milwaukee bar that you can get into with a fake ID but couldn't name more than three Supreme Court justices. Think that's sad, you spring vacationers? Well, that's OK because the spring breakers think your very college existence is sad.

Spring breakers should ask, "What's my age again?" as a reminder that they are privileged, college-educated adults. Yes, you're young and beautiful, but you're also frankly too old to not know better than to put yourself in dangerous situations with alcohol or an unknown man who offers to take you out in his boat.

Whatever your particular spring break/vacation plans, be smart, be safe and try to act at least close to your age. You don't want to end up looking back at the photo documentation of your trip and saying "eww."

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