Thanksgiving: Turkey or term Paper?

By Rafaela Teixeira | Published Jan. 2, 2018

I have read countless posts online about how unfair and ridiculous it is to have copious amounts of assignments due around Thanksgiving break.

As a third-year college student, I have come to the conclusion that semesters are constructed around this very special holiday.

A typical fall semester usually goes like this:

In the beginning, students and professors are trying to maintain a schedule of classes according to the syllabus. It’s September, so everyone has had sufficient time to prepare for the new semester.

We go to class with our 5-subject notebooks and our planners, and expect to never stray from the syllabus and its strict scheduling.

Professors miss one class for whatever reason, and show up the next day with a revised copy of the syllabus. We think, “Wow, this professor is on top of their game!” This lasts roughly for one month.

The month of October is when things start to get a little dry. Subjects may no longer interest students; we may get used to their routines and professors start getting irritated because we no longer pay attention, but instead watch videos on Facebook or rapidly type our homework that is due in 35 minutes.

Assignments pile up without us realizing it, professors lose track of their syllabus, and we think we’re still on top of things because no one has talked about the huge assignments that count for a large portion of our final grade.

Then comes the third month. The hellish month of the semester. It appears to be short, but actually takes an eternity to end.

This is the month in the fall semester where Thanksgiving lies. The holiday that we all, hopefully, spend with people we love, tolerate, and eat comfort food with.

But for some odd reason, that 12-page paper, along with the three 4-page papers, six little homework assignments, two take-home tests, and three extracredit assignments are all simultaneously due.

Now, can someone please tell me how this is possible?

Let me also mention the five to six final exams we are obligated to cram for because we’ve been pouring all our spare time into these assignments.

But thankfully, and I do have to say “thankfully” because we are in the spirit of Thanksgiving after all, finals week is conveniently held one week after our assignments are due.

Some students will say that if we plan our time efficiently and meditate while looking at our monthat-a-glance calendars, assignments won’t pile up.

These are the same students that complain about school on the beloved month of November. Like clockwork.

I don’t think anyone understands why the curriculum is like this and I’m sure students everywhere dislike the thought of spending the well-deserved Thanksgiving break writing papers upon papers upon papers.

How do we have all this time in the beginning of the semester to get used to the professors and the flow of our schedules to later find out that we are indeed sitting on a stool, drinking a beer, while the bar is in flames?

“This is fine,” the dog says.

We are all that dog.

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