Thanksgiving Traditions
Thanksgiving is quickly approaching, which means a week off of at least some responsibilities. But how you decide to spend these days off is likely based on many factors. With family traditions, being far away from home, or perhaps not celebrating the holiday at all, many students have different plans set for their Thanksgiving break.
Sadie Myers, junior Mechanical Engineering major, stays true to the traditional idea of a Thanksgiving celebration at her family’s dinner each year. “We go around the table and we talk about what we were thankful for from that year and each other,” she shares. While this may perhaps be a stereotypical view of the Thanksgiving holiday, this doesn’t necessarily mean that many families stick to this for their tradition. Allison Lourens, sophomore DIGIT major, celebrates with her family by waking up early on this day to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with her family. She states, “My little brother who is eight right now especially really loves it. It’s just something we’ve done forever.”
But not everyone has their traditional Thanksgiving celebrations. Collin Culpepper, senior Mechanical Engineering Technology major, is most looking forward to a different family tradition while he is home. “Our biggest tradition is going to cut down a Christmas tree over Thanksgiving break,” he confesses. For many people, it may not be about the actual holiday, but instead about sticking to tradition and spending time with family.
Daniella Baskin, junior Early Childhood Education major, is switching up her tradition this year. She is anxious about mixing two families together for this holiday who don’t really know each other very well. She shares, “It’s very awkward because my boyfriend’s family is very quiet and not as outgoing and then there’s my family that’s very hyper and outgoing.” Although she is mingling with two different families at once, she plans on sticking to her favorite traditions while just adding more people to the fun.
While many of us may be used to traditional American Thanksgiving celebrations, others from different cultural backgrounds have their own idea of this day. Zexian Guan, sophomore Environmental Engineering major from China, doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving at all. Instead, he states, “I will be going to Boston and meeting my friends.” On the other hand, Janessa Islas-Parker, senior Psychology major, celebrates her Hispanic culture on this day. “It’s like a huge family party and probably at least like 50 people are there and then we just make tamales and tostadas or some other type of Mexican food,” she shares. Her family does not adhere to the typical Thanksgiving food, and also incorporates the Mexican game of lotería, which is somewhat similar to bingo. While they stick to many of their own cultural traditions, they also don’t go around and say what each family member is grateful for, she confesses.
With all of these family traditions in place, it becomes evident that no two families necessarily will share the same idea of a Thanksgiving celebration. While the story may trace back to the pilgrims at Plymouth, this day is celebrated differently from family to family, culture to culture, and perhaps even country to country.