Can Hardly Wait

By Julie Shepard, Academic Coordinator

It is Tuesday. Students who were polled this morning could hardly wait for Thanksgiving break, which starts, technically, at the end of Wednesday. Christian started packing several days early and was still going through his things late last night in anticipation, though it was only Monday night.

A few students are gone already and one is scheduled to leave at 10:20 on Wednesday morning. The buzz is in the air!

And with today’s topic being “Health and Exercise,” students confess that portion control is not on their mind on Thanksgiving day. While it is true that people throw caution to the wind and tend to over-eat with joy on Thanksgiving day, our students will surely be no exception. They looked dreamy-eyed just thinking about hot, home-cooked food that they didn’t have to budget, buy, and cook themselves.

Aaron has been celebrating his birthday for a week now and is looking forward to extending the experience and taking it home. He admits being homesick and can hardly wait to go back home, for more reasons than the food. Though he is from the Bay Area, he hasn’t seen “home” for a full semester and he feels his reward for being a good student is just around the corner. He looks forward to watching tv!

I had to remind students that college is still in session when they return. When I asked about Thanksgiving holiday plans, I received a variety of responses, including what they were planning for Christmas. “Now, wait a minute!,” I said. You realize you have finals when you come back and you don’t get to think about Christmas before that point. Those two holidays are more than a month apart!” Well, ok, they had to think about it. Students look forward to any holiday and seem very impatient to get straight to Christmas (presents).

At least four students told me they “still believe in Santa Clause.” When I asked why, I was told that Santa represents joy and miracles and the idea that surprises are awaiting. Well, I’m sure the stories we get on their return will be filled with just as much joy, and maybe they’ll have the concentration to make it to the end of finals. We have no snow or sleet or reindeer in Berkeley, and certainly not even rain has made much of an appearance, but we do have students wearing jackets and shoes (instead of sandals) this month. Certainly, shoes signal that we are in Winter.

Students who are going out of state will be hit with reality: It may be 60 degrees in Berkeley, but it’s 15 in Minnesota and 37 in New York and Massachusetts. Let’s see them complain about the cold after their long and cherished Thanksgiving dinner, and blurt out, “OK, I’m ready to go back to Berkeley now, where it’s warm!”