At last a break, or so I thought. I anxiously counted the days ’till Thanksgiving, anticipating the extended weekend. ‘I’ll catch up on sleep and school work,’ I thought. Boy was I wrong!Like most ‘out-of-staters,’ I don’t get home very often because of cost, distance and time constraints. For some reason, every time I do get home, I return more tired than before I left, especially after this Thanksgiving break.The Thanksgiving holiday teases Ohio State students: ‘You can have a four day weekend, but don’t forget about finals in less than two weeks….Ha! Ha!’So I packed my bags on Tuesday night and prepared myself for the airport chaos that lay ahead. I went to my Wednesday morning class, ran home and jumped in the airport-bound taxi. Surprisingly, the airport wasn’t mobbed, and my flight was on time (which is unheard of during Thanksgiving travel). The flight was covered with OSU sweatshirts and bulging backpacks. I felt reassured that other students had the same Thanksgiving agenda as I did.With my seat in its ‘upright and locked position’ and my tray table down, I began to review my Spanish flash cards. My study session was suddenly cut short by the persistent man next to me who jabbered about his friend’s wedding and the outrageous plane fare.Did he not notice my fluorescent yellow flash cards? Was my fiery glare misconstrued? I didn’t get it. I tried to ignore him and study, yet he continued to blab.I reluctantly put away my flash cards and accepted the obvious. I wasn’t getting any school work done with ‘Mr. Chatterbox’ next to me. I’ll study later, I thought.My dad met me outside the baggage claim area with the car still running. I threw my bag in the trunk, and we were ‘Homeward Bound.’ We drove about two miles and then I saw what lay ahead; bumper-to-bumper traffic as far as the eye could see. Our normally twenty-minute drive, turned into two hour ordeal.’Surprise,’ my mom said as I entered the kitchen. My jaw dropped. The kitchen looked like a tornado had passed through it. ‘Thanksgiving dinner’s at our house this year,’ my mom said joyfully. ‘We’re having 20 relatives.’ A vision of my little cousins running through the house and mountains of dirty dishes flashed through my head. I wanted to scream! Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing my relatives (well most of them). But not this weekend, any weekend but this weekend! This was supposed to be my productive weekend. Dinner was delicious, and my cousins were semi-calm. After the last person left, I went upstairs intending to study, when suddenly I became dead tired. Does turkey have sedatives in it? I couldn’t keep my eyes opened. Again I gave in, but swore I’d do my work tomorrow. The rest of the weekend was pretty much the same. I had such good intentions. I still can’t figure out what went wrong. My plan seemed error-proof. I returned to Columbus on Sunday afternoon, more tired than before I left. I was furious; did I procrastinate? Where did I go wrong? I felt as though I needed another weekend to recover from my Thanksgiving weekend. Then I came up with the perfect solution.Thanksgiving weekend falls at such a bad time for OSU students. Wouldn’t it make more sense to skip Thanksgiving weekend and just tack the extra days on to winter break? Or better yet, extend another weekend for students to study, and celebrate Thanksgiving later. This would save out-of-state students money on plane fare, conserve turkey and allow students to spend quality time at home, not chaotic time.Now, I anxiously count the days till winter vacation, anticipating a real break.
Heidi Kaye is a senior from Delran, New Jersey majoring in journalism, with hopes of passing 202 this quarter.
