WATERLOO — Mid-terms loom. Papers are piling up. Student stress is stacked.

"This time of year is insane," said Sam Lambert, president of the Wilfrid Laurier University Students Union.

So Lambert welcomes the new fall reading break following Thanksgiving Monday as the October mental health respite begins a three-year trial for 18,000 Laurier students.

"The break will be perfect, whether students want to take the time to study or just take the time to relax," said Lambert, who is completing the final courses of his business degree.

But the concept of a fall break to match the February reading week is nothing new.

The province confirms at least a dozen of 20 universities take time off in the fall. The push for a Laurier fall break began three years ago when a student pitched it to the school. After further gathering much research and input, the senate passed it last January.

"We were one of the laggards, actually," Lambert said.

Down University Avenue, student leaders at the University of Waterloo seem eager to catch up to the trend that has swept through Brock, Trent, McMaster, Western, Ryerson, Carleton and now, Laurier.

On Nov. 4-6, as many as 30,000 students will have a say on the fall break issue.

Waterloo's Federation of Students will hold an online referendum on the matter of introducing a fall break.

"I've had a lot of students say they are in support of the idea and really want it to happen," said Federation of Students president Danielle Burt. "I'm in favour of students supporting it."

There are pros and cons to the fall reading break, officials say.

Laurier had to move some classes to orientation week, which threatened to throw off the routine of hundreds of Week One volunteers. But Lambert said it turned out to work well for volunteers and students.

Waterloo's co-op programs are another potential catch at the bigger local school.

Stéphane Hamade, a federation vice-president who helps students with co-op and academic issues, sees a fall reading break as tackling two key issues.

"Mental health and stress," said Hamade, who counts 14 of 20 Ontario universities as having some length of fall break for students, ranging from a few days to a week.

"Some of the surveys that were done of Waterloo students showed that there were a large number of students feeling overwhelmed."

So as Laurier students enjoy their new fall break, Waterloo students must ponder how they will vote in the referendum as they carry on with their studies.

The university is working on a comprehensive report on the matter of a fall break at Waterloo. The report is nearly done, spokesperson Nick Manning said, and will be forwarded to the Federation of Students.

Once the referendum is complete, Manning said a broad university-wide consultation on the issue must be done in all departments before a fall break — should students vote in favour — could be approved by the school's senate.

"The implications are so wide-reaching," Manning said.

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At Laurier, fall break is a wide-reaching student reality in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

"It's something a bunch of schools are doing to improve mental health," Lambert said.

"We're excited to have it this year."