The facts: Thanksgiving break at N.C. State and most other universities includes Thanksgiving Day, the Wednesday prior and the Friday after. Our opinion: Three days of break does not provide every student at N.C. State an equal opportunity to spend time with their families and enjoy break. N.C. State should replace the Monday and Tuesday before break with vacation days and borrow from previous holidays in the semester.
Thanksgiving break happens to fall on the most hectic portion of fall semester. Teachers call the week immediately following Thanksgiving dead week, but in most cases, dead week is quite alive. Consequently, Thanksgiving is a rushed break filled with homework, travel and stress.
Thanksgiving is supposed to be a break from school, an opportunity to spend time with loved ones and to enjoy eating something other than Ramen and dining hall food. The way the University structures this break makes it impossible for in-state students–much less out-of-state and international students–to enjoy Thanksgiving.
As it stands now, Thanksgiving spans over five days, including the weekend. For out-of-state students, it really only covers three days, including Thanksgiving. Most of their break, if these students choose to journey home, is spent on planes, in cars or in trains. Due to traffic and expenses, simply going home is a huge hassle and teachers make it even more difficult for these students by assigning tests or making papers due the Tuesday before break or the Monday immediately after.
International students don’t even have the option of journeying home unless they miss significant days of class. The Monday and Tuesday immediately before break are not convenient days to miss because of the notoriously high workload, and though students have the option of missing these class days, the consequences are not always worth it.
Not to mention the ridiculously high costs of airfare during the days around and on Thanksgiving. A flight this time of year is often hundreds of dollars more expensive than a flight the weekend prior to Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving in America is a time to get together with family and friends. However, a significant number of the student population is robbed of this opportunity all together due to the structure of Thanksgiving break.
There is an alternative to the current situation. If N.C. State allowed a week for Thanksgiving break, both international students and out-of-state students would have a better opportunity to travel home and see their families. In-state students would also benefit from having a few extra days to tackle the enormous Thanksgiving workload and get ready for finals week.
State students love their reading days, but these have been under consideration for a while now. Students should be consulted about which days they would be willing to surrender for a longer Thanksgiving break because most students would benefit from a few extra days and would undoubtedly vote to have school on days which are now holidays at some point during the semester.
