As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us are anxious about going home and spending time with our families. Many of us can remember being excited in elementary and middle school because we had a whole week off for the Thanksgiving holiday. Being able to go shopping for pies and the huge turkey that would end up sitting on your dining room table was the best. Years later, things are different, and people can’t even remember what a real Thanksgiving break feels like. According to NSU’s academic calendar, we have school all the way up until the day before Thanksgiving. This means that NSU will remain open and classes will be in full effect. How does that make it fair for students with families out of the country and out of state?
Being in college and living over 2,000 miles away from home, you never really know when you will get the opportunity to leave due to classes and being a typical, broke college student. When students only have a few hours after their classes to make it home for the holidays, it conflicts with the time they are able to spend with their families, on top of the amount of money transportation tickets cost because it is right before Thanksgiving day.
We should have the day before Thanksgiving off because it allows students, as well as faculty, at least two days to go home in a timely manner, instead of rushing after class or work. Add to that the stress of worrying about a delayed or canceled flight makes this even worse. No one wants to spend Thanksgiving stuck in an airport. Airport food can be good, but it’s no turkey dinner.
In addition, having the day before Thanksgiving off will give students who live in north Florida and other faraway places enough time to beat traffic and make it home before Nov. 23. Holiday traffic is the worst to be stuck in. For example, while it might take three hours to make it home on a normal day, at this time of year it may take up to six hours due to all of drivers trying to make it home for Thanksgiving.
Along with the time constraints comes the issue of money. For instance, it may cost up to $200 to go home, but while waiting to find out from our professors if we have class the day before Thanksgiving, last-minute ticket prices can be as high as $500. Since many of us have to come up with the money ourselves to pay for our fare home, it is much more beneficial for us to know which exact days we can take off.
The holidays are a very important time to be home and enjoy our families. Therefore, the day before Thanksgiving should be counted as a day to make it home so we can taste our mother’s amazing cooking.
