As the school week comes to a slow halt, students anticipate holiday plans made with their families for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Despite the conception that Thanksgiving celebrations are all about turkey dinners and breaking wishbones, many students maintain holiday traditions which are uncommon to the Thanksgiving norm.

In anticipation for break, senior Aaron Hedrick says he looks forward to seeing his family for Thanksgiving, and is excited to also celebrate his birthday with friends.

“I am going to party over break,” Hedrick said. “Since my birthday is over break, I am going to John’s Incredible Pizza with my friends to play on the rides. For Thanksgiving, my family and I are going to my aunt’s house for dinner. I am really looking forward to it because my dad and grandpa always crack jokes around the dinner table (specifically about my other family members). It’s always a lot of fun.”

Similar to most Thanksgiving family gatherings, junior Ashlyn White says that her family needs to make a lot of food in order to satisfy the large group of family members invited to her house for the celebration.

“For thanksgiving, we are having both my mom’s and dad’s side of the family over, which are both pretty good sized families,” White said. “There are going to be 13 grandchildren, not including me, my sister, or my brother…and thats just the grandkids. We usually have pretty good dinners every night at home, but this Thanksgiving, its going to be a buffet!”

For some, getting ready for Thanksgiving is a lot of work, however, the memories and time spent with family is worth the long preparation.

“This will be the sixth year that I have hosted Thanksgiving at my house,” Lisa Dooley, Jr. High secretary said. “My mom used to host it, and then I took over. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it. My favorite part of Thanksgiving is, after everyone is done eating, we all stay up as late as we can playing games and laughing so hard our stomachs hurt.”

In addition to the traditional Thanksgiving meal, some students enjoy additional delicacies included in their holiday dinner.

“My family is Puerto Rican, so we serve rice and beans in our thanksgiving meal,” Daniel Campos, ’15, said. “We haven’t really followed any more of the specific Puerto Rican customs besides that, but we have been serving rice and beans with our turkey for years now.”

Thanksgiving is a nation-wide holiday celebrated by spending time with family and eating turkey. However, despite the traditional value of having turkey on Thanksgiving, some students do not indulge in this particular aspect of the meal.

“I know that a lot of people like turkey on Thanksgiving, but I don’t like it at all,” Kelsey Hart, ’11, said. “I will eat ham, or even chicken, but not turkey. We usually have macaroni and cheese, which is always really good, and probably my favorite part of the meal…but I won’t eat turkey.”

Despite her aversion for some holiday food, Hart says that she is looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving and holiday traditions with her family.

“For Thanksgiving break, I am going to Oakland to spend time with my family,” Hart said. “My family has a tradition where we all get dressed up, we pray, we eat, and then we stay up late watching movies. Most of the time we all fall asleep during the movie because we are so full. But when we wake up, we make pies and different deserts, which are always delicious.”

Although some may assume Thanksgiving is a holiday dedicated to football, turkey, cranberry sauce and the ensuing feeding frenzy, many expect to spend quality time with their family, and create new memories… whether eating turkey, or rice and beans.

For more information on Thankgiving, read the Dec. 8, 2008, article, Thanksgiving traditions emphasize family.