There comes a time in every college student’s life when they no longer want to indulge in the "delicious" options at the dining hall, consume Chick-Fil-A, or eat yet another strawberry poptart. The yearning to sleep in their own bed and to see their dog becomes such an intense feeling. Wanting so badly to take a nap on their favorite couch or to take a long, hot bath sounds like such a lovely activity, but having to wait so long is not. What is causing these feelings to occur in college students, you may ask? It is the high anticipation of Thanksgiving break, and it occurs around mid-October, right after fall break gives students a quick teaser into what was yet to come. Students everywhere return to campus after fall break with heavy hearts as they realized they will have to undergo yet another round of late nights, crappy food, and early morning classes. Fall break only gives them four days to relax their minds and regroup for the uphill battle at hand. Thanksgiving break is a true blessing from God, which lasts a whole eight days.

As the college student who is ready to go home for Thanksgiving, you realize that you are ready for this experience when you start texting your mom a list of foods you are prepared to eat (i.e. mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and 10+ desserts). There is not a day that goes by where you do not think about how you truly took your mother’s home cooking for granted when you lived with her. As you sit there eating your bland pasta with something that you think are vegetables on top, you start to silently cry because you realize that there are still four weeks until the beautiful food items you dreamt about are set before your very eyes. The dreams of warm breakfasts, scented candles, clean bathrooms, and lounging space that is bigger than a shoebox fill your mind as you drift off to sleep at night. You know you are ready for Thanksgiving when you have planned your itinerary for the trip home around places to nap and the favorite television set in the house. Other highlights of the trip include thinking about friends to visit, reminiscing over old memories, and driving around on old roads in your car from high school, and pretending for those eight days that you are indeed a kid again. The true star of Thanksgiving break is the holiday itself, where you, the poor and hungry college student, plan to put on your stretchiest pair of pants and indulge in the biggest feast ever. Gravy will no longer be a topping on potatoes, but rather your blood type, turkey will become the make-up of your DNA, and dinner rolls will replace the actual rolls you gained in your first semester as a college freshman.

If you have had one or more of these thoughts, or reading this has just sparked some sort of emotion in your mind, you are more than likely ready for Thanksgiving break. Prayers to everyone in the next four weeks, you can power through it. Good Luck.