“I can’t wait for Thanksgiving break.”
We’ve all heard those words before, probably even during the first week of school. We’ve probably said them too. These words are often accompanied with “I get to see my dog/cat/parent/family” and “it’ll be great to eat real food again.” And then when the time comes, everyone’s scrambling to get off of work and hit the road a day or two early, to spend as much time with their family as they possibly can.
Except you. You’re one of the few students who are staying on campus for Thanksgiving break. Unless you have friends who are inviting you to their Thanksgiving dinner nearby, your feast will probably consist of pizza, macaroni, and some cereal. Most, if not all of your friends, are heading out, so you won’t be sitting out in the TV room with them every day, making jokes and staying up late. It’s a week by yourself, which may sound daunting, but is actually a blessing.
As someone who spends every Thanksgiving break on campus, here’s a list of some of my favorite things to do before everyone gets back and I have to resume my social obligations.
- Sleep. Between work, class, friends and reckless procrastination, none of us have had as much sleep as we need. Not once will we be woken up by an alarm clock. Time will become a vague concept. Enjoy it.
- Scrub it. Take off those jeans and put on sweatpants. Go one step further and just pull a pajama day. You don’t have to impress anyone, and now you can finally wash all that laundry you’ve been neglecting and no one else will be hogging all four washers.
- That being said, do your laundry. At some point during the week, do the laundry before everyone gets back. There’s only a few weeks of school left, so everyone’s going to start packing up for winter break as soon as they get back.
- Binge watch something on Netflix. The WiFi isn’t being backed up by everybody and their brother, so maybe you can finally watch "Gossip Girl" again without Netflix stopping to buffer every 30 seconds.
- Play every video game you own. Take a day and just play your games. You haven’t been able to play all semester, and now you’ve got the time.
- Attempt to ration out the bagels you took from the cafeteria before it closed. You don’t want to have to make a trip to Walmart and spend even more money you don’t have.
- Relish in the fact that you don’t have to talk to anyone if you don’t want to. Peace and quiet. No questionable music in the middle of the day. Just peace and quiet.
- Or not. Play your own music as loud as you want. Jam out to that guilty pleasure '90s pop radio station you love.
- Forget about your homework until the last two days, and panic in order to get it all done on time.
- And finally, when school starts again, be prepared to hear the words “I can’t wait until winter break.”
