Being a college student, November is a busy month. We have finals coming up, we realize that we actually don't have anything in our lives together, and seasons are changing which means allergies. College students appreciate being at home as much as they can, especially on Thanksgiving. It's the time of the year when you are supposed to remind yourself to give thanks, but shouldn't that be every day? We often forget to be thankful for the people and things we are blessed with due to our busy lives, but let's stop and think just how thankful we are when it comes to arriving home for Thanksgiving break.

1. Realizing How Much You've Missed Out on with Your Family's Lives

As you go on with your life as a college student, it's hard to stop and realize that your family is doing the same thing. We often find ourselves being busy with different clubs, work, and friendships that we don't question whether or not our grandparents are doing better, how our siblings' athletics are going, or if our parents are truly heartbroken that now they only cook for two kids and not three.

2. Our Childhood Pets

Being in college, it seems as though something is missing such as our companion--dog or cat. Some of us have such a strong relationship with our dog to the point that when our car pulls into the driveway from being away at college, they know it's us. One of the most bittersweet feelings is walking through the front door, after a long drive home and months of being at away college, and having your dog jump onto you as soon as you walk in.

3. Seeing Family

Holidays are meant for family and traditions even when some fail to realize that. One of the biggest things college students can be thankful for is seeing our family. Seeing how much our siblings have grown into young teenagers, our grandparents get older, our parents fall more in love, and how our family has changed while we've been gone.

4. Cheesy Potatoes

Who doesn't love the smell that cheesy potatoes bring and how filling they are once you eat them? If you don't have cheesy potatoes for Thanksgiving, you're missing out, especially home-cooked ones.

5. Thanksgiving Parade

Every year, Macy's is known for their phenomenal Thanksgiving parade. From 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on NBC, one of the biggest parades takes place to wow people's eyes and give an extreme "Thank You" to the world.

6. Detroit Lions

I mean the Lions play often, but there's nothing better than coming home from college and kicking your feet up on the coffee table (sorry mom) while watching the Lions play with your dad.

7. Christmas Decorations

There's nothing better than having your entire family together on one day right before Christmas comes around, because who doesn't love setting up decorations? The Christmas tree, stockings, lights, etc. Some may think to themselves "it's too early", but imagine your parents' faces seeing everyone together helping--it's so worth it.

8. Smell of Home

Everyone you meet and everywhere you go, there's a distinct smell that brings the memory of them to mind. One of the best smells that can make you feel OK again is the smell of your home. There's nothing like going from being in your dorm room and getting used to the smell of microwavable pizzas and leftover Applebee's to walking into your home and smelling the fresh cinnamon rolls baking in the oven.

9. Helping Make Thanksgiving Dinner

Growing up, most of us never wanted to help with dinner. Instead, we would rather eavesdrop on our family's drama and play with our baby cousins. Now as we grow older, we see all that our family has to go through to prepare for Thanksgiving dinner and we can't help but want to be there every step of the way.

10. Post-Thanksgiving Dinner Nap

After eating your Thanksgiving feast and first home-cooked meal in months, it is almost mandatory to take a post-dinner nap. Propping your legs up on your brother, unbuttoning your pants, and stretching right before taking a bomb nap is what Thanksgiving is all about, right? No, well kind of.

11. Friends from Home

Before leaving for graduation, most of us weren't sure what friendships would make it too or even through our first year of college. As the holidays roll around, you run into people you probably could've gone forever without seeing again such as old best friends, ex's, or classmates you never got along with. Besides all the people you don't want to see, you get to see the friends that never left your side even when you were thousands of miles away.

12. "Are you dating anyone yet?"

We've all heard it and we've all been through it--the common question of whether or not we have found a significant other yet. I know as a college student who is just trying to find myself, this question can lead to a whole conversation that you don't want to get into with your Great Aunt Alice over the passing of stuffing. It's OK to be single during the holidays and it's OK to be in a relationship, but hearing the constant nagging of the fact that "aren't you scared that you'll be alone forever?" just really gets old. It's like your family expects you to have a boyfriend/girlfriend right after being in school for just a short, few months.

13. Realizing your baby cousins aren't babies anymore

Remember all the family gatherings when your relatives would say "Oh my, have you grown? I remember when you were just a baby," because the tables have turned. Now you will be doing that this year when you see your baby cousins for the first time since last year and realize that this time a year ago, they couldn't even talk let alone walk, and now they can do both.

14. Not waking up at 8 a.m. for classes

There's nothing worse than hearing your 7:30 a.m. alarm go off basically telling you to "get up, stop being lazy, and stop letting your alarms go off because it's rude". What would you give to have one more day for your mom to come in at 7:50 a.m. to wake you up for the sixth time telling you that you are going to be late for school if you don't get up? I would give anything.

15. Simply being home

After finals, after the stress, after the partying, after the laughter--it's just good to simply be home with your family and friends. Nothing will ever beat that moment of walking through your front door.

To all the college students coming home for Thanksgiving break, enjoy it!