On campus, Thanksgiving is often thought to be about family, food and football. However, Thanksgiving has not always been celebrated in the way Americans do today and students from other countries also have other cultural traditions when celebrating the holiday.

“Thanksgiving is a time when we realize all that we have,” Michelle Di Buduo, 06, said. “We use this time to give thanks to God. Every Thanksgiving, my German uncle barbeques a turkey,” Di Buduo said. “It’s a weird family tradition, but it’s fun and it brings us together.”

In 1777, the thirteen colonies celebrated a day of Thanksgiving commemorating the defeat of the British. However, it wasn’t until 1789 that George Washington declared Thanksgiving a national holiday for the colonies. Yet the 13 colonies did not all agree on how or when it should be observed.

The holiday was not made a national holiday until 1863 when President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in November as a day of national Thanksgiving.

“We spend time with our family,” Shaunna Miller, 06 said. “We don’t really have anything special that we do. It’s a time of praise and celebration.”

Students on campus are all different and have their own unique personalities. Some students have tight knit families, some do not. It all depends on what they have been brought up to believe and how they fulfill that life lesson.

Those of the Armenian heritage are unique as well. Tamar Keshishian, 03, is full-blood Armenian. She speaks Armenian and eats traditional Armenian food. In addition to that, she can read and write in the Armenian language as well.

“The Armenian language is unique,” Keshishian said. “When I read, write, and speak it, I feel special because I feel like it’s my own language that I can just talk in and no one will understand,” Keshishian said.

Thanksgiving is celebrated differently for those who are of German heritage. Krissy Dembach, 06, is of German background. She has a grandmother who lives in Germany and celebrates Thanksgiving in her family’s own unique ways as well.

“My Oma (grandmother) lives in Germany, “Dembach said. “We eat German food and that’s a little different, but we still give thanks to the same God that everyone does.”

Thanksgiving is when we take the time to give thanks for all of our achievements and values, Dembach added. “We all know that God provided them to us and He does so everyday.”

New student, Sarah Foute, 06, was raised in Jos, Nigeria, in Africa. Her parents are missionaries. They came to the United States so her mom could go to school to get her masters degree in child psychology.

“Sometimes in Nigeria, we have a big party with turkeys running around. I love it when my family gets together and we pray and eat with friends,” Foute said.

For this year the Foute family will remain in the U.S. for the rest of the school year. They will spend Thanksgiving in the U.S. and spend time together as a family.

“We spend the day talking and laughing,” Foute said. ” Everybody needs that comforting feeling of family.”