If you haven’t already had a dream about cuddling with your dog on the couch as you recreate the “maybe ‘okay’ will be our always” scene from The Fault in our Stars, then you aren’t nearly as excited as you should be for Thanksgiving break. For many students, this might be the first time you’ve been home all semester, or at least since Fall Break. It’s natural to expect your Thanksgiving will be legend – wait for it – dary because the longer we’re at school, the more comfortable we become complaining about it. But if the thought of settling back into your pre-college life isn’t quite doing it for you, I’m here to hype you up and make you tingle with excitement at the thought of going home.
The top two aspects of going home are driving and seeing your family (in no particular order). Can’t you just imagine the sweet, sweet feeling of whipping through your old neighborhood, seeing moms in Lululemon leggings speed walking with their golden retrievers, accidentally driving past your ex’s house, seeing their dad on the front lawn, quickly speeding away because that brought back some trauma, only to find yourself sobbing in your car in your high school’s parking lot, utterly confused about why you’re there because you hate your high school and that also brings back trauma? Ah, simply magical.
Onto the alleged reason that you’re going home, seeing your family! Your parents, siblings, pets, the spiders that live in your basement, and the coyotes that try to eat your dog all miss you so much. Nothing will make them happier than seeing your face as you walk through the front door. For the first 90 seconds of your visit home, I can guarantee that everyone will be nice to you! Unless, of course, you forgot to call them right as you left campus. But that’s it, the only reason they’ll get mad… wait, also, you took too long to get out of the airport and they had to drive around for 30 minutes. Oh! They might also get mad that you aren’t wearing warm enough clothes for home because this isn’t New Orleans. Honestly though, not too bad. Unless you also got a new piercing. Or have any remote tone in your voice that indicates disrespect. The list goes on and on. And if your parents aren’t American, like mine, multiply that list by around 312. Just remember, it’s not that your parents aren’t excited to see you, it’s that they feel guilty about getting mad at you when you’re living away from home. When you’re back in the house, though, they can act how they really feel. Which is just full of love.
Now, the creatures that are the most significant to see: your pets. You can always call or text your parents and siblings, but your pets are different. No matter how high of a pitch your voice can reach over FaceTime, they never really understand it’s you. Going home will change it all. You can finally pretend your dog always loved cuddling and bring him into your bed only to be left alone right after getting comfortable. Also (super exciting), you can lock your dog in your room so he just sits in front of the door wanting to hang out with your mom, and you get to look at him from the back as he plots his revenge on you for not letting him leave the room. So cute!
As your break comes to a close, you’ll still have Black Friday to look forward to. I’m betting around 5% of you still actually go shopping in stores, as opposed to pouncing on Cyber Monday, so I’ll make this paragraph proportional to that.
I hope you all have a wonderful break and don’t forget to keep a note of every experience so that when you come back to school, you can annoy your friends with every, single, detail.
Cover Photo: Bianca Falanga
About Ayelet Blumovitz
Ayelet Blumovitz is a freshman, currently undeclared but probably going to major in design! She is passionate about writing, singing, travel, and aesthetically pleasing things.
Ayelet Blumovitz is a freshman, currently undeclared but probably going to major in design! She is passionate about writing, singing, travel, and aesthetically pleasing things.
