As Thanksgiving approaches, many of us are thankful for one thing: A well-deserved and greatly needed respite from classes for two or three days (depending on if your Wednesday professor or professors were kind enough to cancel class).
I have always enjoyed Thanksgiving because it means my entire family gets together. When I was young, we would drive to California to have Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncle’s house, and all the cousins were there.
As I’ve grown older, the traditions have changed. My sister is married and has children and moved to Colorado; my aunt who always made a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings passed away three years ago.
But the meaning of Thanksgiving remains as we remember the blessings we’ve had throughout the year.
I remember many blessings as I look back at the past year. The usual suspects aside, there are many I think you could share, as well.
First, I am thankful for my studies. Some of you may be surprised, but being a graduate student, I basically chose to go back to school after the usual four years (or five or six, depending on your life plan).
I am thankful I was able to come to ASU, especially given the tightening of fiscal reins. President Michael Crow’s proposal of a five percent tuition increase definitely beats the 12 percent increase proposed by the president of my alma mater, UA.
I am thankful for Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Half.com, since their textbooks are almost always significantly cheaper than the campus bookstore’s listed price. Living paycheck to paycheck in an economy such as this means that if I can pay less for a textbook I rarely use, I will.
I am thankful that America elected a Democrat for president. Though I am a Republican, I figure that if nothing else comes from President-elect Obama’s administration, there will be more government jobs created right about the time I graduate. Now that’s perfect timing.
I am thankful for my job. My State Press columns hardly pay the bills, but my stint as a research assistant definitely helps with that. And since my office is on the third floor of FAB on West campus, I get a lot of exercise. So that’s technically a double-blessing, I suppose.
I am thankful for no graduate courses on Fridays, at least in the criminology and criminal justice department. That also means that there are no required courses on Fridays, which I am all for. Hooray for three-day weekends.
Lastly, I am thankful for books on CD. My commute to class is roughly 45 minutes each way, so they keep me entertained, especially since several radio stations cut out right around the time you hit the I-10/I-17 interchange. At the moment, I am thankful for Jane Austen, as I am making my way through her novels.
There are many more blessings in my life, but they are the usual suspects — my family, my friends, my home (or apartment, in my case). We all have been blessed throughout the year in various ways.
This week, I encourage you to remember those things, whether it is a new friend, a good book or something more philosophical. These are the things that make Thanksgiving worth celebrating.
Janne wishes all ASU students, faculty and staff a happy Thanksgiving and can be reached at janne.gaub@asu.edu.
