Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and Northwestern students are getting ready to step away from campus for a bit and enjoy a wide variety of Thanksgiving activities. Here are some popular ways you’ll catch students celebrating over break!
Enjoying time with family
– “My sister and I are going to go home early to surprise my parents at midnight… Maybe they’ll pee their pants.” – Victoria Fabrie, junior
– “The past three years I’ve gone to South Dakota, and I go hiking with my grandpa and watch the sunset. But this year, my mom got me a plane ticket home, so I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with my family in California.” – D’Rell Gist, senior
NOT eating turkey
– “No one in my family really likes turkey, so we usually have ham balls or casserole or something.” – Breanna Oolman, freshman
– “We don’t usually have turkey – I don’t know why, but it’s not our tradition. I guess we don’t think a ton about the meaning behind Thanksgiving… We just get together and enjoy what matters most, family.” – Amy Vandermeer, junior
Keeping up traditions
– “After we’re done eating, my whole family plays a game of Phase 10. It’s a really hard game to win, so it takes forever and gets super competitive.” – Carson Marco, senior
– “We always do a family scavenger hunt around town – usually it’s in Mankato, Minnesota, but this year it’ll be in Orange City. It’s always a tradition to eat/drink fruit soup as an appetizer for the actual food.” – Anna Teigland, junior
Hitting those Black Friday deals
– “I’m going to wake up at 3 a.m. and go Black Friday shopping, and I’ll for sure have to go to Best Buy.” – Kayla Schutt, junior
Being entertained by crazy relatives
– “Every year, my uncles go downstairs and play Quincy and poker with pennies, and my uncle Gene who doesn’t have any teeth always yells when he loses. And my cousins go outside and shoot clay pigeons.” – Noah Karmen, junior
– “My grandma decorates her table with wooden pilgrims, and every year before the meal my dad takes them and does a little skit with them.” – Kaylee Henn, senior
A short time of hibernation
– “I’m definitely going to recover from school and take naps.” – Corinne Wiese, sophomore
Appreciating Thanksgiving’s history
– “Every year my aunt and grandma talk about our ancestor John Holland who was on the Mayflower but fell overboard. I’m really thankful someone pulled him back out of the water, or else I wouldn’t be here today.” – Kaitlyn Hassman, junior
– “My mom used to have us listen to this CD about the reason behind Thanksgiving, the pilgrims’ story and how they came over on the Mayflower. I was always really bored and kind of annoyed we had to listen to it every year, but my mom loves it.” – Lydia Kerekes, senior
Watching football, of course
– “Both sets of grandparents come to my house, and after we have dinner, we watch football and take a nap.” – Tanner Machacek, senior
Being thankful
– “We have a big family dinner, and we always go around the table and share what we’re thankful for.” – Shane Solberg, junior
– “I’m thankful to spend Thanksgiving with my friend and her host family… I’ve never celebrated it before, but I imagine it’s like a fun party, like how we celebrate Christmas in Japan.” – Juki Saito, junior
