A Mostly Thankful Thanksgiving

Good evening loyal readers, I come back to you refreshed and ready to tackle the home stretch... I think. Tonight I thought I'd say a few words about Thanksgiving break from the perspective of a student at PLNU.

First off, it should be moved to sometime in mid-October. While I am aware Thanksgiving has, does, and will always fall in November, that's really not the most convenient time for college students for a few reasons. Primary among them is that for those of us who don't live near the city in which we attend college, it creates a difficult 3 month gap from when we last saw our families. Those who live nearby obviously have an advantage here, as they often spend every other weekend back home getting their laundry done. For us non-SoCal residents, though, those nine weeks are killer. I have spoken to my friends from Tucson who go to school in Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Washington, Boston and Texas, and many of them agree -- the break is brutal.

And then at the end of those nine weeks, we have all of four or five days for Thanksgiving break (one of which you can all but dedicate to travel) before we have to come back to school. When we do finally struggle through the door and drape ourselves across our desks, weeping, our tears are initially vindicated by the knowledge that in just three weeks, we'll once again be back with our families. Unfortunately, those three weeks are the most difficult ones of the semester. They're full of projects, papers, and finals; you hit the ground running on the Monday you return.

And, while the break is short, it's just long enough to remove you from academia. Those four or five days, which, before you left, you swore would be filled with arduous reading, writing, and scholasticism, are inherently filled with food, sleeping, spending time with family and seeing friends. Which they should be -- it's Thanksgiving, after all. That's what the entire holiday is supposed to be about, that's what everyone around the country is expected to do. Which is my biggest complaint about the holiday from the perspective of a college student. It's wonderful, it's relaxing, but it can be detrimental. It can prematurely ready you for Christmas break -- the real relaxation period, other than summer -- causing you to fall behind in classes if you're not careful.

That said, it's a wonderful holiday. It's hard for me to express the feeling of coming home after 3 months of not seeing your family. The food, family, friends and fun (the 4 F's of Thanksgiving, if you will) are much needed and perhaps more appreciated than at any other time of the school year, other than summer.

I just wish the Pilgrims had eaten earlier.

Below, I included some of the pictures I took and collaged via Instagram of my Thanksgiving exploits. From the red mountains of Tucson sunsets to twilight saguaros to the University of Arizona vs Arizona State rivalry football game, there were a lot of incredible moments over my break. I'm especially thankful for my mother and father for welcoming me back and taking such good care of me. See you next week.