Thanksgiving is one of the most commonly known holidays in the US. People across the country gather together to share a meal and reflect on all the things they’re grateful for.

There are many traditions that go into Thanksgiving other than just the food. Traditions such as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City, shopping during Black Friday and breaking the wishbone for good luck over dinner. Amaka Gbulie, sophomore, prefers Christmas over Thanksgiving because of the unique tradition she does during the holiday.  

“I do prefer Christmas over Thanksgiving because even though Thanksgiving is about being thankful that we are all coming together, I feel like Christmas does that in a bigger way than Thanksgiving. All the different traditions we do during Christmas like gift shopping, decorating the tree and just getting together with family,” says Gublie.  

During the fall season there are 4 holidays that are back to back. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. When Halloween comes to an end many people start to obsess over Christmas and start buying decorations, presents and start to prepare for family visits. Lucy Laughlin, sophomore explains how she notices people seem to fawn over Christmas more than Thanksgiving. 

“Not a lot of people think about Thanksgiving on the daily like they do for Christmas, when November rolls around they start to think about Christmas when Halloween just ended and Thanksgiving is coming up,” says Laughlin 

During holidays in America students get certain day off of school. Some holidays get a week, others it’s just that day off. Thanksgiving break starts from November 21th and ends November 27th. This holiday break allows students to relax and spend time with their families and friends. Zaily Nesbitt, sophomore says that compared to the Christmas break, Thanksgiving is deemed more important.

“For me Thanksgiving it feels like it’s just one day and Christmas is a whole feeling, mainly because of the school break that they give us. For Thanksgiving it’s just one week and for the two weeks off it feels like Christmas is given much more importance, people don’t really anticipate Thanksgiving the way they do for Christmas. For Christmas there are different movies, music albums and decorations,” says Nesbitt

In stores, there are more Christmas decorations than Thanksgiving decorations. This leads people to overlook the Thanksgiving holiday and prepare for Christmas before it arrives. Most Thanksgiving decorations are associated with the autumn session such as pumpkins, fall leaves, and decorative pine cones. Eva Posada, Sophomore, explains that seeing more Christmas decorations makes her feel more eager for Christmas.

“When I go to stores I see a lot more Christmas decorations than Thanksgiving and it makes me feel a lot more excited about Christmas and I start to forget that Thanksgiving has not even passed yet,” says Posada.  

Gbulie feels that Thanksgiving is being overlooked by all the Christmas decorations.

“I’ve seen Christmas decorations in Walmart already and then I went to Kroger the other day and saw some Thanksgiving decorations in the back but mostly Christmas decorations. It really makes you think about how a lot of people really prioritize Christmas over Thanksgiving,” says Gbulie. 

Another form of Thanksgiving is what people call a friends-giving. Friends-giving is a blend of friend and Thanksgiving, and it refers to a large meal eaten with friends either on or near Thanksgiving. Potluck meals are popular, during friends-giving, with everyone bringing something to share. Jennifer Swegler, AP world history teacher, explains why she celebrates friends-giving.

“The first couple of years after I graduated college I helped host a friends-giving. I would invite my friends to my home who I knew didn’t have a family to go to. The idea of Thanksgiving or friends-giving is to bring people together to have a shared meal and enjoy time together,” says Swegler.