Thanksgiving is upon us and, with it, a roller coaster of emotions. Though break lasts less than a week for most of us (unless you're on the crazy quarter system and you're stuck on a six week break) it's filled with a lot of events. With it, though, comes ten feelings that all college students face while home for the Thanksgiving holiday.
1. Being home with family...
...for maybe a little bit too long. It's great seeing everyone once again, but it's also weird being stuck in the same house with them 24/7. It's great for the first few hours, but then again you'll know that you will miss them once they drop you back off at your dorm.
2. Suddenly seeing your college friends' moms, dads, siblings, and dogs on their snapchat story nonstop.
Who are these people? Did she ever even mention a pet? You've never met any of your college friends' family members, so seeing them on their social media all of the time might be a shock to you.
3. Dreading finals... until you remember that you're on the quarter system.
After living off of dining hall food for three months, you're ready to eat just about anything. When the huge plate of Thanksgiving food comes around, you're already ready for seconds. There's so much food available at your fingertips, and better yet it's FREE.
5. Seeing your high school friends and catching them up on everything from the past three months.
"Did you hear about that? Have you talked to so and so?" After a few minutes of hugs, you're ready to get down to business. How is everyone back home doing? Did anything change in your hometown? You and your friends and ready to spill all the details about their lives for their last three months and life couldn't be better.
6. Scrounging up every last penny you have in order to buy presents on a broke college student budget.
Your "to-buy" list keeps growing longer and longer, yet your budget seems to be shrinking. Living off of a college budget is hard enough, but buying gifts for others? Now that's the real challenge. Struggling to find the best gifts for everyone (while on a budget) leads you to...
7. Somehow managing to (barely) survive Black Friday...
...or if you're me, Black Thursday. Picking out the deals is an important job for any broke college student. Lining up at 6pm on Thanksgiving may not seem like the greatest idea, but it'll definitely be worth it once you see two people fight over the last Hatchimal.
8. Preparing yourself for first snow with the few clothes you brought home from college.
It's been pretty warm up until this point, but you know that winter is coming. With the single suitcase that you brought home from college, though, it may be difficult to put together a warm outfit. I have one word for you: layers.
9. Catching up on all the Netflix you missed when being constantly bombarded with assignments while away.
A new season of Gilmore Girls? The Crown? Your Netflix queue keeps growing and you're more stressed about it than you were for that one big final paper you had. At school there's so much to do: laundry, studying, sleeping. At home you're free of all responsibilities and have plenty of time to lounge around and focus on the more important things: clearing out that queue.
10. Being torn between wanting to be home for the holidays but also waiting to be reunited with your college friends.
It's great being home with your family and friends from home, but there's just something about spending the night in your dorm with your roommate. The holidays are fun, but sometimes it seems like next quarter won't come soon enough.
