Coming home for Thanksgiving for college students brings two main challenges:

1. Trying to eat as much home cooked food as possible
   
   
2. Trying to avoid the infamous slaughter of painful questions from your family members.

In addition to family, friends, and health, one of the many blessings I was thankful for this year included Thanksgiving Clapbacks, the social media-inspired, shameless responses to these ruthless questions that allowed me to survive the holiday season. However, as a Mexican-American, there were a few that hit all too close to home.

1. Tia: “Oye, estas gorda!” Me: “Mira, tú tienes más arrugas.”

2. Tia: “Tattoos are a lifetime commitment.” Me: “But that brown hair on your head wasn’t, rubia.”

3. Tia: “How’s your love life looking?” Me: “Just like your tamales, dry and lacking some spice.”

4. Tio: “Why does your hair look like that?” Me: “Why does your menudo smell like that?”

5. Tio: “Maybe your grades would be better if you spent a little less time on social media.” Me: “Maybe your frijoles would taste better if you didn't drink all the cerveza.”

6. Prima: “When are you going to stop eating all the tamales?" Me: “When are you going to stop having kids?”

7. When your primo brings back la misma novia from last Thanksgiving and tu tias como

8. Mama: “When are you going to finish cleaning this house? You know your cousins are coming.” Me: “When you gonna flavor this masa?”

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving, full of tamales, menudo, turkey, stuffing, and as much shade and clapbacks as mine.