Students Prepare for Thanksgiving Break
Najma El
As Manchester University students and faculty prepare for remote learning, they’re looking forward to the week-long Thanksgiving break taking place prior to the start of remote sessions. Thanksgiving break begins Friday, November 20, after classes and will go through Sunday, November 29. Classes will resume remotely Nov 30.
Kimberly Khavayi and Laura Mayorga-Mejia, both third-year international students, will be spending their Thanksgiving with friends. Khavayi, a Kenya native, will be having a “Friendsgiving,” a recent trend for friends to have a Thanksgiving together as opposed to having it with their families. Everyone contributes something, essentially making it a festive potluck. Mayorga-Mejia, however, will be spending Thanksgiving with her friend’s family. She is most excited to eat mashed potatoes and see what Thanksgiving is like in America. In her home country, Nicaragua, they do not celebrate Thanksgiving.
First year student and LaPorte, Indiana, native Ambria Almon, will be having two Thanksgivings. One will be with her significant other and her family. The other will be spent at her own home with her family. She works two jobs to help pay for school, so she’ll be spending the rest of her Thanksgiving night working.
I, a third-year Indianapolis native, am gearing up for COVID and school relief. It’s been a stressful semester without any breaks, so a week before final assignments is just what I need. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is getting to see my uncles: they’re always the life of the party. I also love Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping, as I find retail therapy is truly comforting.
Jamya Clay, a first year athlete, will be helping her family cook Thanksgiving dinner this year. By doing so, she’ll learn her family traditions and be able to pass them on. She really enjoys home cooked meals saying. “I’m ready to eat everything,” she said. While at school, she’s missing out on making memories with her younger brother. She’s thrilled to go home and make up for lost time with him.
Sebastian Kalmbach is a senior from Michigan and is ready to see his family as well as his grandparents. “They have a larger front yard so it’s possible to social distance and still see them,” he said. He’s also very excited to meet the new family cat, named Baby Yoda. He’s a wrinkled, hairless cat with large pointy ears (hence the name). Kalmbach is not particularly happy about Thanksgiving due to the nature of its origin. “Thanksgiving is a ‘fun’ thing for white people [but] for indigenous people it’s a reminder that the United States is still very bad,” he said.
It seems we’ve all got the same thing in mind, a break filled with great food and greater family memories.