With Spring Break quickly approaching, I start a yearly tradition that I am not exactly proud of.

I go tanning three to four times a week for about two weeks.

I do this for multiple reasons, the most prominent being that I always go to Florida over Spring Break. Until sophomore year when I started my yearly tanning expenditure, I would always burn.

Granted, I never burned too badly, but I hated having pink skin that stung every time I touched it.

I never burn outside of the annual Florida vacation. Over the summer, my skin just soaks up the rays and turns into a nice tanned color.

I have reasoned for as long as I have been tanning that going to a tanning bed for a few times a week a couple weeks a year must be better for my skin than burning in the intense Florida sun.

After some skeptical comments from my mother after I explained my reasoning to her lately, I decided to do some research.

What I found did not devastate me, but it did cause me to rethink my yearly tanning trips.

According to mayoclinic.com, being exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation (the type of light used in a tanning bed) is dangerous. It does not matter whether the rays come from a tanning bed or the natural sunlight.

Scary.

Also, according to health.harvard.edu, exposure to UV radiation is linked to skin cancer and premature aging.

This might be shallow, but the premature aging is what really gets me.

Am I going to be a wrinkled mess by the time I’m 30 just because I did not want to burn while in Florida?

I am definitely going to moisturize more often.

But what about the other risk, the one that should scare me more than a few early wrinkles?

Health.harvard.edu lists basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma all as diseases that have been linked to exposure to the UV rays in tanning beds and in natural sunlight.

Let’s pause for a second on melanoma. Ncbi.nlm.nhi.gov lists melanoma as the most dangerous form of skin cancer. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease.

And according to livestrong.org, people who have used tanning beds before the age of 30 have increased their risk of melanoma by 75 percent.

Yikes.

Maybe I should re-think this whole "tanning is better than burning" logic.

But then again, I was 16 the first time I went tanning, which is much younger than 30. Apparently, my risk of melanoma has increased by 75 percent.

So am I doomed?

Should I just accept my future fate and move on with my life?

Or should I stay inside for the rest of my life, only daring to venture outside after glopping on some SPF 80?

My mother would probably prefer that.

This past summer, she got a basal cell carcinoma. It looked like a scab, and the dermatologist cut it off, not a problem.

Even though the immediate problem was solved quickly and easily, my mom has definitely been turned against tanning beds.

However, even though she may not approve, my mom is letting me make my own decision about tanning. I have been thinking about it all winter long: to tan or to not tan?

Simply looking at the facts, the decision seems obvious, but I have to look at my individual situation as well.

My skin tans easily.

And by that, I mean that in any situation other than going from a six-month sun hiatus straight into the intense light of the sunshine state, I do not burn.

Plus, having a tan just makes me happy.

So, I am probably going to go head and get tan before my Florida trip.

But at least I know the risk I am taking.