Growing up, Thanksgiving was nowhere near as cool as Christmas, or Halloween, or the Fourth of July. It was cold, but not snowy yet and there was a lot of good food, but it was basically like Christmas without the presents. Now that I’m older, I appreciate Thanksgiving a lot more. Maybe not as much as Christmas, but it’s an awesome holiday for many reasons.

Going Home

My freshman year of college, I didn’t go home at all until Thanksgiving break. This year I’ve gone home once, but I still miss my real house. As much as I love school, nothing compares to being in my own bed in a room I don’t have to swipe into and (most importantly) seeing all of my pets! Plus, once I go home I no longer need to remember to cook for myself, which is always a huge bonus.

Seeing Friends from High School

It’s hard to find a weekend during the school year that everyone can all come home from their various schools/states. Thanksgiving break is the first time that everyone is (pretty much) guaranteed to be home and available to get together!

Having a Break from Classes

Midterms are winding down and you’re beginning prep for finals, and any sort of relief from the study-Netflix-stress cycle that is your life now is very welcome. Being able to go home and escape from everything for a little while is really underrated.

Seeing Family

Thanksgiving is great because instead of seeing just your immediate family, you usually visit your more distant relatives who you see less often. While this can be stressful (especially on the tails of this year’s election), they’re still your family and as long as you stay away from any even slightly controversial topics, you should be all set. When in doubt over whether you should bring up a touchy subject, just fill your mouth with food instead. Plus as you get older, you get to start commenting on how big your younger cousins have gotten and pretend to know what you’re doing and give the advice on how to survive high school.

The Reminder of How Lucky You Are

It’s hard to sit down at a feast for a holiday specifically designed to remind you of your good fortune and not feel blessed. In this day and age it’s easy to compare yourself to someone that you think is doing better than you (they’re probably doing the same thing), so it’s good to sit down and really think about all that you should be thankful for (good health, loving family, all the food on the table, the list goes on and on).

The Parade

The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade always reminds me of my childhood, and feeling like a little kid again every once in a while is nice.

The Memories

In my opinion, Thanksgiving is as much about making memories as it is about following old traditions. Running Turkey Trots, trying out new dishes or putting new spins on the old, and making up new traditions during dinner are all great parts of the holiday. Plus, it’s great to see what new people are joining you each year, and remembering the people who can’t be there.

The Food

Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without the food! Mashed potatoes, turkey, cranberry sauce, and all the amazing desserts! Waking up to the house filled with the smell of everything baking and helping my mom in the kitchen is one of my favorite parts of the holiday. After months of dining hall food, being able to gorge myself on pretty much whatever I want is great, and helping prepare the feast for everyone else is even better.

Even though Thanksgiving doesn’t have the fireworks of New Year’s Eve or the Fourth of July, or the presents or candy of Christmas or Halloween, it still is an incredibly important holiday and a perfect opportunity to reconnect with family and friends and remember all the things you have to be grateful for.