What’s the Best Block Off?

______

Joanna Zhou ’29

A: 

NMH students who have never had A block off tend to think that it’s the best: a faraway paradise that drifts between pillows and blankets. 

A block’s irresistible appeal comes from the fact that it gives fatigued students an opportunity to stay slumbering long after the sun has risen. Moreover, it combines with X block, making a supposed one–block rest feel like an entire morning free. 

The difference in quality of life is huge. A student without A block off might hear their blaring alarm ten minutes before class, and stumble into the classroom with a nest for hair and a hole for a stomach, while someone with A block off on Tuesday could stretch leisurely, watching the rays of sunlight filter through the blinds at 10:00 before showing up at class perfectly rejuvenated.

But is that all there is to it?

While almost all students with A block off agree that it’s the best for relaxation, they also agree that it causes the most laziness and procrastination when faced with their ever–growing workload. 

“I usually plan to get some work done,” a student with A block off said. She paused for a good moment, before admitting, “I usually end up sleeping or resting.”

How many people would choose facing that dreadful pile of homework over sinking back into their dream? Well, it’s not exactly a hard decision to make, is it?

B:

You get out of A block at 10:00 am. You leave behind your swarm of friends already cracking open their textbooks and slumping onto the floor at Bev, zoning in for B block. But not you. You’re heading back to the dorm with a pep in your step, knowing that you don’t only have fifty minutes to rush your homework—you have two whole hours to do anything.  

From the outside, B block off seems wrong. It juts out awkwardly in the middle of the day, like heaven sandwiched in two slices of hell. You get off from class and have some time to relax before being forced back into your academics. Most people would rather have free blocks connected to the morning or afternoon.  

“I don’t know… I mean, B block is just so random, you know?” A sophomore says. There was not a single person out of 21 interviewees that wished for B block off.

But once you have it, your previous assumptions change. It links directly from X block, starting at 10, and stretches into your 40 minutes of lunch if you’re lucky enough to get C1 lunch period. 

And even if you don’t get C1, what’s stopping you from going early? You walk in during Thursday, and catch a whiff of…stir fry? You have never seen the line so empty.

C: 

Only 7% of students interviewed have C block off, and a curious 0% of others are pining for it. Why? Like B block, no one wants to have their block off in the middle of the day, and would rather have their breaks in either the start or the end. And similarly, C block is a hidden gem. It’s the pit stop you make in the middle of your road trip, mistaken for inconvenience. Having C block off means you get a long break starting at 12 and ending after advisory at 2:25. When your body is still fresh without hitting that 3 p.m. nap state, the possibilities of what you can do are endless. Whether it’s doing homework or conquering the pickleball courts, there’s time for everything.

Granted, the placement is slightly inconvenient for day students. Many would prefer a late morning or an early escape from their classes. Still, they admit that C block is the time when one can be the most efficient. When you know most of tomorrow’s assignments, you can choose to work ahead on them or do homework for D block. Either choice benefits you.  

C block might not be the most wanted block off, but the few who have it may just be luckier than all the others.

D: 

D block is often seen as the best block off. The idea of finishing school at 2:00 is undeniably appealing, especially for those lucky enough to have their entire afternoon free until check–in. The real charm for the majority of students, however, is having the time to go back to their dorms and prepare for what's ahead: two hours of sports training. That’s a luxury that only students with D block off can have. It not only gives student athletes a break, but also spares them the mental stress of being yelled at by coaches. It benefits everyone, athlete or not.

But is the advantageous placement worth the length? Like all blocks off, there’s a catch. Every other block off is connected to another break, making it even longer; D only stretches into the 30-minute advisory before it. In fact, students don’t even have their advisory block off three times a week. Even if a student is lucky enough to get C2 lunch at 1:20, that break is still interrupted by mandatory advising.

Only once your alarm for sports blares do you realize how short D block truly is.