It does not take a long time in college before norms begin to develop. Personally, I do not need to look any further than the trajectory of almost every semester of my time at Marquette to recognize such patterns.
Generally, I kick off the first week of classes with noble goals like refusing to go on YouTube or Facebook while doing homework (I was on YouTube moments before I wrote this sentence) or exercising three or four times a week (I went to the Rec Center Monday night and have not returned since).
As tests and papers arrive and extracurricular activities demand more attention, I call home more frequently, if only to hear my mom expound on her troubles of rearranging our house’s furniture and other anecdotes I have come to associate with a simpler, more bucolic life.
Sooner or later, the stress reaches such a level that I seek solace in Doritos and The Beach Boys and question why I ever went to college.
Sometimes, however, it takes a little more than the brief respite The Beach Boys offer to gain the serenity required to face the busy and oft-unvaried humdrum of everyday life.

Sometimes, leaving altogether can provide a sense of escape that allows one to recharge and eventually return refreshed. You’re welcome for the alliteration.
To some extent, I must have had all of this in mind when I traveled to Washington, D.C. last weekend. I recently applied to spend two years of service with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) and needed to complete a one-on-one interview and discernment retreat as part of the application process. Though the organization will offer this session in Chicago in March, spring break plans would make it difficult for me to get to the Windy City.

Besides, I wanted to visit Barack, who unfortunately returned none of my calls. What an elitist.
The president’s snub aside, Washington turned out to be just what I needed.
Because my flight was on Thursday evening and my interview not until Saturday morning, I spent Friday wandering around the National Mall with a friend participating in the Les Aspin program. We swung by the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, and as I considered whether or not Wilbur Wright was irritated that Orville got to fly their airplane first, I felt a strange sense of release learning about something that had nothing to do with my classes at Marquette.
Though the retreat was an intense 16 hours packed into a day-and-a-half, it too added to the calm I was looking for. Many of the activities and seminars we participated in implemented quiet reflection, another welcome change from the seemingly endless noise and on-the-go lifestyle so many students are used to. Moreover, the retreat provided a non-stressful atmosphere in which to think about important questions regarding post-graduate life.
As the organization’s name indicates, JVC exemplifies many of the Jesuit values Marquette is founded on. While words like “faith seeking justice” and “men and women for others” meant a great deal to me when I first arrived at college, they eventually lost some of their punch after I grew used to hearing them over and over again. Talking about them in an unfamiliar setting and thinking about what role they would play in my life if I were accepted into the program gave them a surprisingly fresh bent.
This is an advantage of breaking routines. It allows us to enter new situations and have experiences outside the customs we are used to.
Sometimes we are lucky and gain insight or a refined understanding of something we hold familiar, such as Marquette’s Jesuit identity. If nothing else, these breaks in our schedules offer an interruption from the monotony of everyday life, as well as the strength to return to that life invigorated, at peace and free of any unhealthy dependencies on The Beach Boys.