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# SMC students skip wild spring break trips, opting for work and local getaways
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/smactivists-file-lawsuit-for-whales-at-smc-spring-break-wont-include-wild-times-out-girls-gone-mild/
- Published: 2007-03-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:17:44.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*SMC students less likely to book a trip*

SANTA MONICA COLLEGE While young coeds at local four-year universities like UCLA and USC might be baring it all this spring break, flashing their goodies to strangers in Cancun and drinking cheap beer, the majority of students at this junior college will be letting loose in a different way.

Whether it’s a matter of money, free time or age, the students at Santa Monica College tend to spend their spring break picking up extra shifts at their part-time jobs or simply relaxing with a modest jaunt to Vegas or another nearby city.

“Santa Monica College has a student population that is considerably different than a lot of four-year universities,” said SMC Public Information Officer Bruce Smith. “A lot of our students are lower income and they’re working part-time, so spring break is a break from school, not necessarily an excuse to travel to get crazy.”

The students at SMC will be celebrating their time off from April 9-13.

At STA Travel in Westwood, a discounted travel agency geared towards college students, the majority of spring break fares have been sold to UCLA and Loyola Marymount students who are headed to Cancun, Miami and the Bahamas. Travel agent Keponi Elaisa couldn’t recall selling any plane tickets to SMC students.

Working from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on the days he isn’t in school, 21-year-old Andreas Choi will likely spend the lion’s share of his spring break in his brother’s South Central grocery store.

But when his shift is over, the bio-chemistry student plans to head over to some bars in Koreatown for a few drinks. He might also find time for a short trip to Palm Springs and hit the slots on an Indian Reservations.

“It’ll be time to let loose,” he said. On a quiet Friday afternoon, a week before most students will be done with their midterm examinations, Choi chatted with his friends in between classes.

To his left stood 22-year-old Jee Lee, who plans to spend her spring break in India with family. Her family has lived in India for the past five years and Lee moved to California for school in 2005.

Spring break is never really about partying hard for Lee, who believes the last time she really let loose with alcohol and fun was when she left India for the United States. Her normally conservative parents let Lee have her fun as a going away present, she said.

Now that he’s 27, Michael Torres does-n’t consider spring break to be an excuse to party. Older and wiser than most of his fellow students, the SMC student remembers his early spring break days in Cancun and Ensenada, having drinks with friends and witnessing more than a few crazy acts.

Though he wasn’t in college at the time, Torres often accompanied friends from four-year universities on their spring breaks.

At Santa Monica College, Torres doesn’t see the kind of students who would let loose and drop several hundreds dollars for a trip to Florida or another exotic location. The majority of the students here commute to school, have jobs and don’t have the time or the money, he said.

He’s not interested in another trip to Cancun, but he fondly remembers those wild and crazy days.

“Everyone pretty much gets as drunk as they can and has crazy sex,” Torres joked.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 24, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032407.pdf?ref=smdp.com)