Carla SorianoFor non-local students, you have a big question to consider: should you go home for Thanksgiving, or stay at school? What are the ups and downs of each option? You don’t have to worry about it, because we did for you!
Point: Yes, go home
Look, I get it. It’s midterm season. You have three papers to write, four skipped classes worth of notes to catch up on, and 300 exams to study for. In order to survive this hell, you need every precious minute of studying you can get.
But you also need every precious minute of downtime to time to blow off steam, help your brain recover, and spend some time with the people you value most. That’s why you, even with all the craziness going on in your life right now, should go home for Thanksgiving.
Being able to reconnect with family and pull yourself away from your textbooks is a great way to reset; you get the chance to ground yourself and remember that there’s a world beyond academia. Plus, if you’re home for the whole weekend, that’s a solid amount of free, home-cooked meals you’re getting. If your family loves you a lot, you’ll be taking home so many containers of leftovers that you’ll be able to feed yourself all the way to finals season. That’s an insane plus that you have to consider.
So go home for Thanksgiving. Study a little bit on the side, if you must, but remember that you being home is a chance for you to take care of yourself.
— Andrew McWhinney
Counterpoint: No, you’ve got too much to do
I understand the desire to spend the holidays with family, and the desire to eat their oh-so-delicious leftovers too. I get it: you’ve been living on ramen noodles and a prayer like the rest of us.
However, Thanksgiving inevitably always falls, as it does this year, right in the middle of midterm season. I never get anything done at my house due to the never-ending turnstile of family visiting even outside of the holidays, so you can imagine what it’s like when there’s a family dinner involved. I usually have to actually book off work for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this year I’m putting my foot down. Nay, I say: I will not be a slave to the Hallmark holidays.
I can visit my family any time I want, and it’ll be way less hectic outside of Thanksgiving. I can see my parents and siblings without the suffocating pressure of approximately 30 thousand family members crammed into every room, and, as an added bonus, I won’t want to claw my eyes out from midterm stress. All around, this will make for a better, more enjoyable visit.
If you have 80 billion relatives, are stressed about midterms or work, or even just don’t feel like driving this weekend, there’s a simple solution: visit home another time. No one can fault you for focusing on yourself this Sunday.
— Payton Ferguson
