Now that 2013’s midterms are a thing of the past, college students everywhere are making plans to go home for their Thanksgiving holiday. Students are excitedly chatting about arranging flights, seeing their families, and seeing their hometowns again. We all know how Thanksgiving goes: catch up with family, eat turkey, watch football, give thanks, feel fat. However, some students and their families put a twist on the holiday with their own unique traditions.
Chasen Dvorak and his family start off with a normal Thanksgiving by having a traditional turkey dinner, but after dinner the fun begins! They take the wishbone of the turkey and break it. The one who gets the longer side gets to make a wish while the unlucky person with the short side has to jump in the pool.
Madalyn Heimann and her family take Thanksgiving tradition to a deeper level. They use paper plates every year for their Thankgiving dinner. At the end of their meal they take an unused paper plate and write the year on it. Everyone at the dinner signs the plate. They have a plate from almost every year since the 1960’s! The Heimann’s definitely know how to keep tradition alive.
Guillermo Salcido is full of traditions! Guillermo and his friends reconnect at their old elementary school for some pre-Thanksgiving flag football. After the game, Guillermo heads to his aunt’s house for a traditional Salvadoran-style meal. However, his traditions don’t stop there! Guillermo is initiating his own college tradition by playing football with his new college friends once everyone returns from their holiday.
Guillermo isn’t the only sporty one, though. Emily and her mom wake up at 5 A.M. every Thanksgiving in Santa Monica, California to volunteer and run a trail race together.
Don’t have a tradition and feel like you’re missing out? No worries, Courtney Pedroza still enjoys her Thanksgiving tradition-free. “I go different places every year! Nothing is the same or traditional!”