Going home for Thanksgiving has changed throughout my college years.
As a freshman, I was excited to swap college stories with friends who attended other colleges, eat home cooked meals and see my family. Every resident in the dorm had a countdown until when they could travel home on his or her whiteboards on his or her door. The long drive home was no concern and seeing how early I could get home was the most important thing in the world. I remember asking older friends how important it was to go to classes, or if I could get away with skipping. I couldn’t wait to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in my pajamas, eat my grandmother’s stuffing, watch football and wake up at the crack of dawn to go Black Friday shopping.
After the initial Thanksgiving at home, I realized I was sitting in traffic to south Florida almost as long as I was home for. The competition to get home is not only between UF students but all college students. The drive back to Gainesville was beyond painful, and I vouched to never spend a Thanksgiving at home again. Naturally, I went home again for the holiday, but the excitement it brought me as a freshman vanished.
Sophomore year I became concerned with missing school as my classes became harder, I needed to find a ride able to take me home that worked with my work schedule and I became less patient with my ability to survive bumper-to-bumper traffic. Going home was annoying not nostalgic.
Junior year I switched up the holiday and chose to attend the traditional football game against FSU since we were hosting. I highly recommend attending the game at least once over your college career. You don’t only skip all the traffic driving up on Friday or Saturday super early, but you get to participate in a UF tradition and state rivalry.
This year I am excited to travel home because I haven’t been home since the break between summer sessions. Making the trek home doesn’t seem too terrible because I don’t know if I will be able to spend next year’s Thanksgiving at home. I am looking forward to my rituals of catching up with friends and spending time with family.
The holidays are a time to relax and take a step back from the stress and nuances college life bring. For a few days forget about your final papers and exam week and focus on being thankful for the smaller, yet important things in life that are right under your nose like homemade stuffing.
