Thanksgiving break becomes extended weekend for schoolwork and extra sports practices

As students headed home on Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving break, they had more in mind than just family and sleep. They thought about everything from basketball to college.

Many students believe that Thanksgiving break is meant for rest and sleep. However, according to them, teachers do not understand this. With an extra load of homework, students feel strained from the added pressure.

“I don’t think teachers really understand that Thanksgiving is meant to be a break,” senior Anindya Basu said. “They think of it more as of a study period where they can dump all these great projects on us. I mean, I can see their thinking, but I wish we had the time off, even just to work on college apps because that would really be helpful.”

For seniors like Basu, schoolwork is the least of their worries. The break is a time to finish their college essays. UC essays, for example, are due by the end of November while some colleges, like University of Southern California, have deadlines  in early December. Many students use the two extra days to polish their essays which has often led to crashes in the UC servers in the past.

“For me, I actually never celebrated Thanksgiving during break,” Basu said. “[This year,] I’m doing UC essays, but I also have a lit project, an econ project, and four chemistry tests. In the end, [Thanksgiving] ends up being [dinner with] various curries and my parents discussing college.”

The varsity basketball team has also felt the pressure as they had practice on Friday and Saturday of break, but some feel that this time was used efficiently.

“Last year, [the team] didn’t [have practice over Thanksgiving break] so we weren’t as close together.” junior Andrew Hsu said. “[This year] we are good friends and good teammates. We will go jogging on Saturday if it doesn’t rain. Hard work pays off, so if we practice more, we will be a better team.”

Juniors who have just started taking AP classes also felt the pressure. With finals in December, many of them used this time to study.

“I don‘t think [Thanksgiving break] will change my schedule that much,” junior Rachel Lu said. “I think I will just be studying anyways. This year I feel more pressure because my classes are that much harder. [Thanksgiving break is] a one way shot to finals so that is a little stressful.”

For students, school is never on break.