It’s comforting for us to dream about Thanksgiving break in the midst of our stressful schedule. The anticipation is the only thing keeping us going until we can go back to our families and push school as far away from our thoughts as possible. Here are some reasonable things we hope to accomplish in the few days we have off.
Bring back extra food
On the day of Thanksgiving, in addition to catching up on the necessary proteins that your Artichoke Basille’s pizza binge hadn’t provided you for days, you also expect there to be plenty of leftovers for you to bring back. At this point, it is your parents’ responsibility to make sure you won’t have to touch your pots and pans for days after you get back from break. But your roommate has the exact same thought in mind, which means that the pumpkin pies in the fridge will be harder to get rid of than you thought.
Do your laundry
As soon as you no longer have access to the laundry machines in the residence halls, you realize how much of a hassle washing your clothes actually is. The washing machines in your complex require multiple cycles, quarters are a necessity that you never seem to have and your Tide detergent pods are running low. This is why you anticipate going home and having your mom take care of the load of laundry that would have taken you six Tide pods and more than $10 in quarters.
Cuddle with your pets
Having a warm soul on your lap as you’re writing your essays in high school was by far the best part about having a cat (or any other pet for that matter). Because you were denied of that privilege as a college student, you now truly realize the significance your pets had on your academic success. You’re going to give your pets six months worth of love in just a few days, which means they won’t be left alone when you’re back home.
Black Friday shopping
No matter how many weeks worth of underwear you have, because of your lack of incentive to do your laundry, there are never enough pairs of undergarments to go by. Your parents will be for forced to go Black Friday shopping with you for everything you didn’t have the opportunity to splurge on. So go ahead, hit up that Macy’s and stock up on your favorite Calvin Klein underwear.
Catch up on schoolwork
Just having your laptop with you and lying to yourself about doing your schoolwork gives you the comfort you need to not feel like a slacker. Even though the Thanksgiving dinner is enough to give you a food coma, you will not disregard your laptop and textbook because there’s still a slight chance that you might actually be productive. Even if it’s just opening a Word document and setting your paper to MLA format, the few minutes of work done is a few minutes saved.
Contact Catherine Straus at cstraus@dailycal.org.