With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the StudLife editors want to encourage all of you to try to take a break during the holiday. WashU is very busy, and, like Ferris Bueller’s life, it just flies by because we don’t always get a chance to pause and look around. The past year has been full of twists and turns, both happy surprises and those you hoped would never come true. Thanksgiving dinners can be surprisingly political, and the holiday itself has a complex history. We hope that gratitude and being around the people you love can make your Thanksgiving meaningful. Below are some of the things that we are thankful for this year.

As a senior editor of the Forum section, I have helped write and edit many pieces that are critical of WashU, but here are a lot of things about this school that I am grateful for: I am grateful for the flexibility of study (being allowed to major in both Arts & Sciences and Sam Fox). I am grateful for the many lovely professors I have had over the years. I am grateful for the dedicated faculty and workers who cook our food, serve us, clean our halls, maintain our lawns, and keep our community functioning. And I am grateful for this gorgeous campus we get to call our home. 

Jordan Spector | Senior Forum Editor

I am thankful for the people I have gotten to know at WashU. The chance to meet such a diverse group of people from all places and backgrounds drew me to WashU and is something I am continually thankful for.

Lewis Rand | Junior Sports Editor

It is a really nerdy answer, but I am thankful for the discussions I get to have in class. The chance to engage with a bunch of smart, passionate people on a given subject and have contentious disagreements is awesome. In my literature classes, it always blows my mind, in the best way possible, that people read the same part of the same book and can extract vastly different meanings from it in totally legitimate and rational ways. Getting to go back and forth with someone — to expand, push back, question, and underscore parts of their idea — is an incredible feeling in an ever-changing world where people have different feelings, ideas, and emotions. The discussions I find myself having in class keep my mind running and help me to question and understand this wacky world. 

Avi Holzman | Editor-In-Chief. 

I’m grateful for The End. I know, immediately, that this reads as pretty obliquely ungrateful, the fact that I’m already wishing for the next thing without even paying my respects toward what I have now, but let me explain. Personally, this semester consisted of an infinite series of Greek-comedy-esque misfortunes (funny if they weren’t so tragic), so the end of this year has symbolized hope that it’ll pass. Even if you weren’t going through a crisis, the end of the semester is always a reminder of how our time in college is impermanent and fleeting. Four years, eight semesters, and 120 credits can feel endless when you’re burnt out and adrift 10 weeks in, but it really does all go by too quickly. Think of it as a deadline, or at least a checkpoint, and use the end of this semester to refocus on all you have now and all that is to come. Seriously, how lucky are we?

Lore Wang | Junior Scene Editor

It might be trivial, but I am grateful for pumpkin pie. I love everything about pumpkin pie — the flaky crust, the sweet and spicy filling, the homemade whipped cream with a touch of vanilla, and the sugared cranberries that go on top — so much so that I asked for it instead of a birthday cake when I was a kid. My grandparents recently passed the “Thanksgiving Host” torch to my parents, which is a bittersweet transition. All of the cooking and baking falls on us now, not just my now-perfected pumpkin pie recipe. Even though I’ll be making a lot of other food this year, the pumpkin pie will still be a standout. It’s the perfect crown jewel for a delicious dinner and a stressful day of cooking. It’s a bit of consistency, even as time goes on and our Thanksgiving traditions change. 

Elizabeth Grieve | Junior Scene Editor

As excited as I am to go abroad this Spring, I’ve been reflecting on the community I’ve made at WashU and how hard it is to leave it. I am so grateful for all of the people I surround myself with at WashU: my roommates for the debriefs we get to have every night, the StudLife staff for making my weeks chaotic and exciting, the friends who I grab coffee with every few weeks for our catch-ups, the professors I’ve had who have helped me grow as a student and a person, and all of my close friends for making me happy and being my support system.

Sylvie Richards | Managing Forum Editor

In terms of change, the month of November has meant more than just shorter days for me. At one point, all the uncertainty seemed to add up, so I’m grateful because my friends were there for me when I needed them most. Moments with my friends — whether it was receiving their advice over and over (and not taking it), getting to help out with their art projects, seeing them perform, laughing with them over Mexican food, or bonding over times when reality hit like a truck — grounded me. I’m so grateful for them, and I’ll always remember moments like these. 

Sophia Hellman | Junior Scene Editor

I know that most people pull the “I’m grateful for my family and friends” card, but I genuinely would not have gotten through this semester or the last without a solid support system. At any moment when I needed to talk to someone — about something pressing or trivial — it was those who were closest to me that offered the best support. Of course, I am grateful for my acquaintances and classmates that I joke with from time to time; but, it wasn’t them who would sit on the phone with me while I wept from homesickness or tell me that I was simply being too hard on myself and that my teachers don’t think I’m the stupidest piece of crap to step foot into their classroom. Man, if I didn’t have my loved ones, I don’t know what I would do.

Dion Hines | Junior Forum Editor

Approaching these relentlessly cold, ever-so-dreary months, I’m thankful for the holiday spirit. As someone who’s had my mini Christmas tree up since August, romanticizing this time of year is one of the few things that pulls me through finals season. Though I don’t have grand expectations for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year’s, anticipation is everything. At the risk of sounding like every Hallmark movie ever, this month I will be partaking in everything from baking Pillsbury Christmas Tree sugar cookies to binging numerous cheesy Christmas limited series (shoutout Dash & Lily). In the words of Xmas legend Mariah Carey, It’s time … !” 

Sanchali Pothuru | Managing Multimedia Editor

It’s hour six on the third floor of Olin. The sun barely made an appearance during the shortened day. A massive assignment is due at midnight. Eyes bleary, searching for a break — a change in mental pace — I find myself returning to Solitaire. As I think about what I’m grateful for, my friends, family, extracurriculars, and apartment all come to mind immediately, and I hope that those people and spaces feel my gratitude for them more than once a year. But as I reflect on the niche little things that get me through the day, I continually return to Solitaire. Whether it’s the Google version, my trusty app (I’m proudly on level 302), or the old-school, analog deck of cards I usually have on hand, Solitaire always lends itself as a brain break. It’s been a stressful semester, to say the least, and having something mindless to turn to that isn’t just mindless scrolling (though I do plenty of that too) has been a light. Next time you anticipate major procrastination, grab a deck of cards and be grateful.

Alice Gottesman | Managing Scene Editor

I could write about how thankful I am to my family and friends — how happy they make me, how much I love them, how I couldn’t imagine a fulfilled life without them — but I’d like to think I tell them often enough that this paragraph wouldn’t make a difference. So that’s why I am going to dedicate this note to the Ginkgo trees outside of the Olin Library. This semester has been really stressful, and I always feel like I can sit in this space to calm down, breathe, look at the treetops, and enjoy being. I can always count on their beauty when I’m having a difficult day or their mere presence when I need a moment to daydream and bask in unproductivity. This is my last year seeing them drop their yellow before winter, and I am so happy to be witnessing it one more time.

Nina Giraldo | Editor-in-Chief

This semester, I’m particularly grateful for St. Louis and all the opportunities available here. I can’t wait to see my family and friends at home this Thanksgiving and winter break, but I am definitely going to miss Forest Park, the zoo, the history museum, and all the other free activities here that are really easy to get out and enjoy. 

Amelia Raden | Senior Forum Editor