By: Ben Mixon

After leaving school last Friday afternoon, it wasn’t until I was sinking into a sea of blankets placed between myself and the living room floor that I realized how essential Thanksgiving break really is. For everyone.

If we’re being honest, no one remembers the true meaning behind Thanksgiving anymore. And that may be okay, seeing as how sensitivity on the topic of the mass genocide of the Native Americans is at an all time high.

We should be allowed to have only one foot rooted in tradition (to please the parents, if nothing else) to reap the benefits that come with, such as taking days of school off for the holiday of Thanksgiving.

However, for all the traditionalists out there, it is about much more than eating loads of home-cooked food and spending (too much) time with family members and feeling the spirit of the holidays.

As I came to realize this past week, Thanksgiving is the most important break of the year for one specific reason:

The time off relieves us of our busy lives, even if only for a little while, and lifts the stress from our tired shoulders at just the right time. It reassures us that we can, in fact, make it through the rest of the year.

Although I dreamt my break away, hiding under the sheets did prove to reinvigorate and renew my spirits. I feel ready now to bundle up and push through the winter as well as the remaining weeks of school, and tackle finals. There’s at least one thing to be thankful for.