My family doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. Frankly, we don’t really care about Thanksgiving. So, no, I will not be having a good Thanksgiving because it is on a Thursday and that’s a weekday, which means I will be studying. What fun, right?!

Here’s the thing: everybody else that is from outside America doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s just another day of the week, except that we don’t have school. My family has actually never eaten on Thanksgiving. What?! How?! Because my pastors decided a couple of years ago that Thanksgiving weekend was the perfect time to fast and pray. Yes, the more temptations we had and the harder to resist, the better. We basically spend the whole weekend in church, sleeping there, reading the Bible, worshiping and praising and praying. It’s actually a pretty fun time and we’re locked away from the rest of the country going about their Thanksgiving plans.

But, the pastor decided not to have prayer and fasting this year so, here’s a rundown of what I’ll be doing.

Sleeping. As it appears, college is hard, life is hard, everything is hard and I have not been getting enough sleep. So, I need to catch up on some sleep. While all of you are gaining weight from turkey and gravy (how these two are good still boggles my mind), I’ll be losing the weight in my sleep. Finals are like two weeks after Thanksgiving weekend and I’m going to be ready for them.

TV. Saying that I have not been watching TV and have no idea what is happening in the entertainment business is not an understatement. I am going to catch up on the new season of The Flash, Luke Cage, and Lucifer. (What do I do when I don’t have prayer and fasting in church? Watch Lucifer. What irony.) I’ll also take this time to make a list of the movies coming out soon in theaters, to treat myself after a very weird semester and year.

Watching K-Dramas. No shame. In high school, I used to spend most of my free time at night watching K-Dramas, that’s Korean dramas for those that may not know, and I just haven’t had the time to in the past couple of months. I need to take this time to enjoy at least a few episodes.

Baking. I spend my whole day running up and down hills to go to classes and labs and jobs, I don’t have the time to relax and do the things I love. Christmas is coming up and I need to perfect my baking skills for the parties and celebrations that will take place after this Thanksgiving weekend. Plus, I need to make some goodies to bring back to school. I will not be baking any pies though (again, I don’t understand how these are good).

Art. Just going to do it, not that I don’t get to do it during school. Be it drawing or writing, this semester and end of the year had been one heck of a mess, I need some way to release it all.

Studying. While people are falling behind in their classes, I will be catching up and staying ahead. Again, finals are coming and I will be ready this time. I tell people I will be studying during Thanksgiving weekend and they give me this “What? Oh my gah, I’m so sorry,” as if I want to be playing around with my GPA.

Not gaining weight. Can’t say the same for everybody else though. My family, we don’t eat much. We’re always too lazy to eat, even if the food is prepared. But, nobody is gonna spend the time to cook either, so I will not be gaining much weight. I hope.

Thanksgiving holds no meaning to us and, I’m sure, to many other immigrants and people who grew up outside America. Some of us don’t even understand the meaning of it. I don’t see how stuffing yourself full is a form of giving thanks but, you do you, America. It’s just a normal day and since I’m being given the chance, I will use it to relax, for the most part.

But, all things aside, those who do truly love Thanksgiving, have a nice one. And those who just want the food, fill yourselves to your hearts' desire.