Students Look Forward to Thanksgiving
by student Darby Rousseau
As William Shakespeare once said, “small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast.” This year marks the 388th celebration of the authentic autumn holiday that everyone begins looking forward to when the temperatures start to drop and the leaves change colors.
In 1941, Congress made Thanksgiving an official national holiday, and since it has continued to carry on the traditions of family, gratitude and especially good food. When I was younger, Thanksgiving was always an exciting holiday due to its placement between Halloween and Christmas, two of the most exciting days of the year as a child. Now, after being in college for a year, Thanksgiving holds even more significance because it symbolizes a chance to leave the college lifestyle and spend a long weekend at home with family and friends.
Something very unique to Oregon is that our campus is truly synonymous with the coming of fall. Through the changing and falling of leaves, we can slowly begin to count down the days until Thanksgiving and all the benefits that come with it. At the University of Oregon, students and faculty warmly welcome Thanksgiving for a variety of different reasons.
Many students see Thanksgiving as a chance to relax and take a break from classes, homework and tests, while others take it as an opportunity to spend extra time studying for upcoming finals. Many students are able to fly, or drive home to see their families for the first time since school started, whereas some decide to stay in Eugene to work and celebrate with other friends staying in town.
Regardless of what their travel plans are, one reason that everyone shares for loving Thanksgiving is the excitement for not only a home-cooked meal, but more importantly one of the most highly anticipated meals of the year: complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry, biscuits and pumpkin pie. This is quite the nice change from the usual diet of easy-Mac, ramen and cereal that most college students are accustomed to today.
Some of the students who do stay in Eugene will create their own modified feasts with friends, or go to a restaurant with a “mock” Thanksgiving menu, to carry on their traditions from home and to start new ones. College is all about appreciating the opportunities we have to create memories and carry on traditions that will last a lifetime. So whether you are flying to visit family and friends, or staying at home to start your own traditions, Thanksgiving is truly a time for giving thanks, being with the ones you love and of course eating delicious food.