As with every Thanksgiving, I ask people what they are most thankful for. The answers vary from person to person. Here are the most common ones I have heard this year so far: food, family, friends, faith, a home to go to every night, having a job, having monetary stability, and an abundance of clean clothes.

My list, even though I agree with everything above, consists of laughter, freedom, challenges, health, and opportunity. In just a short time, I'll be on a plane headed home to my family back in Chicago. It's been a long but eventful semester here at school, and as much as I am wanting a nice, relaxing break, it'll be a time that I can spend close to my family and cousins.

Our usual thanksgiving ritual consists of getting up early in the morning to get whatever groceries we have left to get, getting the house ready for visitors, setting the table for a feast, and then we take a small break before the cooking begins. We may play games, go toss a football in the backyard, sit around the firepit, or sit around the television waiting for a football game to begin. Eventually, the cooking begins; the menu consists of the traditional items, a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, some sort of mixed vegetables, sometimes a ham, and a countless number of pies with homemade whipped cream! When the dessert portion ends, we usually go back to the living room and watch the night football game.

Something I would like to try this year, though, for years to continue, is to go around the dinner table and ask everyone to share at least one thing they are thankful for. I know many families do this as a tradition, but I believe that this is something that every family should do.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving this year, enjoy your family traditions, maybe even enjoy a new tradition that has been added this year, but remember to sit down and take some time to think: What am I really thankful for this year?