For the majority of Loyola students, winter break is pretty typical.

The winter break usually involves a trip home, holiday festivities, excessive sleeping, eating and football. Most of us are quite content having a quiet, boring vacation.

There is, however, a large community on campus that rebels against this notion.

This group uses the break as an opportunity to travel abroad, pursue hobbies, and even- dare I say it, learn.

As outlandish as this group may seem, you don’t have to search very far to find its members; in fact, you need only look to the front of the classroom.

While students go home to mentally hibernate, many Loyola professors prepare to leave home in pursuit of some scholarly endeavor. The past break was no exception for John Mahoney, jazz studies department coordinator, who spent eight days in sunny Denmark visiting his son, daughter-in-law, and young granddaughter.

Mahoney stayed in the city of Århus, Denmark’s second-largest city.

It features a lovely cathedral, a marina and freezing temperatures.

But Mahoney is no stranger to Denmark.

He was there last summer performing with his son, whose band played at the Århus music festival.

Dr. David White, professor of ecology, opted for a warmer climate when he headed to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico with the other members of a research team he led there 20 years ago.

Back then they were researching ecosystems centered around old Mayan ruins, which differ from that of the surrounding jungle, according to White.

This time they went to celebrate, and not without cause.

Their previous trip culminated in a major paper recently completed by White, which will be published a few months from now in the Journal of Vegetation Science.

The return trip wasn’t without its own scientific fruits.

On revisiting previous sites of research, White discovered changes to the ecosystems that just might, some years from now, provide the meat for yet another scholarly work.

Ventures such as these are not that uncommon for professors, who often use breaks for pursuing their field of study in some other way than teaching.

And, as they’ll probably tell you, sometimes it’s nice to get out and about.

But to avoid any unfortunate stereotypes, it must be said that even professors need to take some time off every once in a while.

The Rev. Robert Gerlich, S.J., visited family and prepared for classes rather than going abroad.

Dr. David White, professor of ecology, took a unique winter break this year. He headed to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico with the other members of a research team he led there 20 years ago. (Ann Hermes)