'Home' for the holidays
Anna Gunther
Issue date: 11/6/09 Section: Opinion
By the end of October and with the passing of Halloween, it feels like the holiday season is in full swing. In a few weeks it will be Thanksgiving, followed by all the winter holidays and the end of the semester. It truly is a magical time of year when the weather is just right, and you don't have to start studying for finals just yet. For those of us living farther than the nearest Cleveland suburb, this also means that we are here on campus for a lot of those events.
When we can't make it home, we turn to our makeshift family, comprised of friends and roommates. The family dinner for us young, broke college students rarely involves our parents anymore. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year for a reason. It brings together my favorite people, and we eat delicious food for hours on a crisp fall day. However, in past years, my Thanksgiving was spent mostly in an airport alone waiting for my delayed flight home to take off. And of course, as our siblings and cousins grow up as we do, they will start to spend their holidays with friends and significant others. For the first time ever, I received a Thanksgiving e-vite from my own parents. This was not a gesture of formality, but a genuine invitation because so many family members have other plans. This scenario is inevitable for a large portion of our campus.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for some, the Thanksgiving schlep home is impossible. While Case's academics are great, I can't help but be baffled by the random professor or two who never fail to have some sort of quiz or paper due the day before the big feast. For my friends who live within a 30-minute drive of campus, this is no big deal. For the students who live hours away, they might not be able to get home at all. Students dedicate their life to the school, making compromises to pull all-nighters and study hard. Perhaps it's not such a terrible idea to give us Wednesday off as well. Needless to say, I learned my lesson freshman year, and refuse to stay on campus until Wednesday night and then try and make it home. Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year for a reason.
It's times like these when we can ask our new mommies and daddies (AKA our loyal friends) for help. It's not just Thanksgiving - you can reach out in a plethora of situations. If your roommate is sick with the flu, make them some soup. If you live close by, invite your out-of-town roommate to dinner with your parents. We may put on a stoic face, but we still need human interaction, especially on these sentimental holidays. As a college student, trying to get home is difficult, but at least we have each other. We can still get together and try our hand at roasting a turkey, even if it is in a dorm kitchen.
When we can't make it home, we turn to our makeshift family, comprised of friends and roommates. The family dinner for us young, broke college students rarely involves our parents anymore. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year for a reason. It brings together my favorite people, and we eat delicious food for hours on a crisp fall day. However, in past years, my Thanksgiving was spent mostly in an airport alone waiting for my delayed flight home to take off. And of course, as our siblings and cousins grow up as we do, they will start to spend their holidays with friends and significant others. For the first time ever, I received a Thanksgiving e-vite from my own parents. This was not a gesture of formality, but a genuine invitation because so many family members have other plans. This scenario is inevitable for a large portion of our campus.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for some, the Thanksgiving schlep home is impossible. While Case's academics are great, I can't help but be baffled by the random professor or two who never fail to have some sort of quiz or paper due the day before the big feast. For my friends who live within a 30-minute drive of campus, this is no big deal. For the students who live hours away, they might not be able to get home at all. Students dedicate their life to the school, making compromises to pull all-nighters and study hard. Perhaps it's not such a terrible idea to give us Wednesday off as well. Needless to say, I learned my lesson freshman year, and refuse to stay on campus until Wednesday night and then try and make it home. Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year for a reason.
It's times like these when we can ask our new mommies and daddies (AKA our loyal friends) for help. It's not just Thanksgiving - you can reach out in a plethora of situations. If your roommate is sick with the flu, make them some soup. If you live close by, invite your out-of-town roommate to dinner with your parents. We may put on a stoic face, but we still need human interaction, especially on these sentimental holidays. As a college student, trying to get home is difficult, but at least we have each other. We can still get together and try our hand at roasting a turkey, even if it is in a dorm kitchen.
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