By River Mitchell
@rivermitchell27
The only thing that I personally dislike about those late-november in New England is the typical cold, foggy days that make you want to curl into a ball. But Thanksgiving often cures this sense of dread and gloominess for many Americans, as it gives people the opportunity to connect with friends and family. Personally, I happen to be one of these people who gets cured by this amazing holiday.
However, I feel that Thanksgiving in recent years is getting overlooked as a minor holiday. Many people I talk to, including many of my own roommates, believe that thanksgiving is merely a transition period from Halloween to Christmas. I happen to vehemently disagree with this sentiment, for so many reasons.
For many college students, including those here at Springfield College, it gives them an opportunity to relax. This is the point in the semester when people tend to start getting more and more stressed, as it also caps off an almost three-month period without some sort of scheduled break. First off, if Halloween was more significant, then how come it doesn’t get a scheduled school break? Second off, I love Halloween, but it’s not exactly the most relaxing holiday either. Thanksgiving allows for plenty of rest and relaxation, plus the other awesome traditions that come with it.
One thing that’s amazing about Thanksgiving is the quality time with family. For me, it allows me to go home and see my family, as the holiday also is a great opportunity to bring extended family together. On top of that, you get to bond with your family over a delicious Thanksgiving meal, such as juicy turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and whatever dishes your family does. You also have a full day of football to watch as well, marking (in my opinion) one of the single best traditions that we have as Americans.
There are some things about this great holiday that truly irritate me. That is, that I feel Thanksgiving gets overlooked for another holiday. Christmas.
I want to preface this by saying I love Christmas as much as the next person. I love Christmas for many of the same reasons I love Thanksgiving. However, I feel that many people love to skip over Thanksgiving and immediately start thinking about Christmas. I often see grocery stores put out their Christmas decor before Thanksgiving even starts, just as I see people talking about Christmas in early November. In my opinion, people need to wait until after thanksgiving is over before they start looking at Christmas, because this means they overlook, what is in my opinion, the second best holiday in the United States. Personally for me, I can’t even think about Christmas until I get past thanksgiving, which happens to be Black Friday. Sometimes I can’t wrap my head around how much people look over or disregard such an amazing holiday.
Photo courtesy of History.com