Thanksgiving means something different to many members of the student body. And, the homework-free weekend is experienced in a variety of ways as well. A time to celebrate with old and new traditions, eat tasty meals, to be grateful, and some time away from school are aspects of the upcoming holiday that many students value.
Surina Arora ’21 explains, “My family and I run a Turkey Trot 5k wherever we are. We either visit family in New Jersey or we stay in Minnesota, and we do it with our entire family.”
Every year, Grace Barnes ’23 celebrates at her grandparents’ house and spends Thanksgiving with her mom’s side of the family.
Jack Hanna ’22 plans to spend time at home with his family this year as well and to enjoy some time away from school. “It’s definitely a little bit about tradition,” he says. Hanna continues, “We all go to [my] grandma’s house to have a big dinner with most of the family, but the tradition is rooted in family for us.”
Arora mentioned that, despite the fact that there may not be a turkey on the dinner table because her entire family is vegetarian, “it’s about celebrating family and being around the people that I love and that I care about.”
Barnes states, “It’s mostly about a time to get together because my family is all spread out, so it is kind of the only time of the year that we are all together. That is what it’s about for us, just enjoying our time together.”
Students in the past have had varying experiences with the homework-free weekend that the Thanksgiving long weekend is supposed to provide. Hanna finds that, “It’s usually mostly homework free, however, the homework gets overloaded the days before, so while the weekend itself is free, it isn’t really an even spread over the week.”
Barnes states, “It’s really nice … I have seen how my other cousins who have [finished] high school just stop shutting themselves in a room [to work] during Thanksgiving. It would be great to not have to do that if I don’t have homework [this year].”
