Winter break is usually a joyous times for students because of the holiday cheer that comes along with Christmas. With break lasting three weeks, many students this year spent valuable, and memorable time with their families. While many were unpacking their Christmas boxes yet another year, a few students were packing up as much as they could fit in their suitcase and head out for vacation.

Students from FC traveled to various places this year. A few of them went out of state and even out of the country.

Sophomore, Courtney Messer and her family had the opportunity to spend 12 days on the island of Maui, Hawaii. While there she was immersed into the culture and was educated on the way of life there in Hawaii.

“This winter vacation I had the opportunity to go to the island of Maui, Hawaii with my family,” Messer said. “While there we did many fun things as a family. One of my dads friends, a local who has lived on maui his whole life, showed us some really cool spots that only locals know of.”

Along with learning local hangouts, Messer also learned how to crack open a coconut and remove the meat from the inside. One of her favorite memories included being treated to a meal of day old deer meat that was cooked infront of the family on the beach.

“One of the most exciting things that I did was jumping off Black Rock on Kaanapali beach,” Messer said. “The drop is about a 25 foot free fall into the crystal clear ocean. It was a blast. Overall I had an amazing time with my family.”

Alli Breedlove, ’16, also had an opportunity to travel to the Bahamas for a week. While there she explored many types of sea animals through snorkeling adventures while relaxing on the white sandy beaches escaping the cold winter.

“I went to the Bahamas with my family along with my friend Marissa Jonigian and her family,” Breedlove said. “We mostly went to the main pool which was a rapid river and pretty intense. It was so much fun to ride and meet other people there. One of the days we went on a snorkeling adventure on the other side of the island. It was so cool seeing all the beautiful fish but at the same time kind of scary.”

Breedlove snorkeled in three different locations. The first one was a sunken war plane, the second was a reef in which they encountered a bundle of clear jellyfish and the last stop was swimming with sharks. Breedlove did not swim with sharks due to it being scary and cold. The Breedlove’s stayed in the Bahamas for a week and were able to escape the cold, relax and get a tan.

Junior Ivette Ibarra traveled out of the country all the way to her roots in Nicaragua where she spent time with family while experiencing her native country.

“I spent the holidays in a more exotic place then usual. Instead of having a White Christmas, I had more a tropical, beachy, Christmas,” Ibarra said. “My family and I went to Nicaragua and spent part of the holidays there with close friends and family. The town park was filled with blue lights and different types of nativity scenes on every corner. I have never been to Nicaragua this time of year and it was a very enjoyable experience.

Ibarra’s close family and relatives had a big, early, Christmas celebration, and had their own secret santa. Despite being in a different country and away from home, Ibarra enjoyed her time not worrying about all the materialistic things that most of us get caught up in during the Christmas season. She made a lot of great memories on this trip.

While an assortment of students went out of town or stayed home, the FC body still reunited for their first day of school, Jan. 6. With the last semester of the 2013-2014 school year most students took advantage of their Christmas break to rejuvenate and get ready for the last semester.

This writer can be reached via Twitter: @TimothyNyberg. Follow The Feather via Twitter: @thefeather.

For more features, read the Jan. 9 article, Feather highlights: Fall blogosphere.