Senior kinesiology major
With the end of the semester drawing near, everyone is almost at wits’ end from crushing workloads and a final push to try to salvage grades. Before we enter crunch time, however, we should all recharge our batteries and take a few days off. Enter Thanksgiving break.
Thanksgiving break seems designed for totally strung-out college students to eat their feelings and stuff them down. Psychologists say this is an ineffective coping mechanism and doesn’t solve any problems. But who said we were actually trying to solve anything? My question for these “experts” is, “When have you eaten three pumpkins pies and not felt better about yourself?” Food is temporary, but bad grades follow you home. So indulge and loosen that belt. You’ve earned it, undergrad.
Along with the food-induced coma, Thanksgiving presents a day when everyone can watch grown men beat the crap out of one another just to get ahold of some pigskin. Welcome to the wonderful world of American football. Not only do we have the option to watch this testosterone fest,but we get to be a part of it.
Give your neighbors and friends a phone call and invite them over for a friendly game of football. After a meal during which you consumed 18 pounds of stuffing, proceed to knock said stuffing out of one another in celebration of all you are thankful for.
Along with physical rigors, Thanksgiving presents a unique mix of mental distress as all your older relatives remind you that, even though you’re about to receive a college degree, you probably won’t get a job anyway because the economy sucks, that your 4.0 GPA is pretty good, but of course they did better and that not having a significant other in your early 20s probably means you’re going to die alone. Don’t you just love Thanksgiving family dinners?
Overbearing relatives and ridiculous amounts of football aside, Thanksgiving does have some perks. It affords us the opportunity to enjoy the company of people we may not see all the time, even though they may be difficult to handle. Thanksgiving also gives you a day to watch as much football as you can stand, and no one can complain about it because it’s “tradition.” And of course, I saved the biggest perk for last: leftovers. So grab a turkey leg and enjoy the holiday, everyone. Good luck. You’re going to need it.
