The mention of spring break causes many students to conjure up images of a sunny beach somewhere. This daydream involves lazing on the beach and soaking up the sun, listening to the rise and fall of the waves, all the while forgetting about schoolwork and the other stressors that are inevitably a part of life. It sounds like paradise. For some students, spending spring break in a tropical location will be a reality. Working on a tan may be a part of the plan.

I am sure that your daydreams of tanning on a sunny beach do not include increasing your risk of a diagnosis of skin cancer. Sometimes we trick ourselves into thinking that we are invincible because we are young. What we do to our bodies now doesn’t matter, because we have plenty of time later on to take care of ourselves properly. However, the way that we treat our bodies now does have an affect on our futures—and maybe even on how much longer our future will turn out to be.

It is easy to forget to put on sunscreen.  And yes, it does take a little extra time. The sunshine beckons, and the waves are just calling your name. It may not be until your skin has been painfully burned or you see that you’ve developed tan lines that you remember you should have donned the sunscreen. Like many Americans, you might be trying to get a tan. While a tan may be beautiful by some people’s standards, skin cancer is not. It can be disfiguring or unattractive. It can even be deadly, especially in the case of melanoma.

Don’t ditch your tropical vacation or skip your time glorying in the sunshine. Remember to slather on sunscreen. Yes, that means sacrificing your tan (and maybe sunburn and peeling skin, too). But we should know by now that beauty is much more than skin deep. And isn’t possibly preventing skin cancer and living a long, healthy life more attractive than a tan that will soon fade away?