With Thanksgiving break just around the corner, Warren students are excited to have a few days off to relax, unwind, and spend time with family. This year’s Thanksgiving plans compared to last year might be different this time around since Covid. The break provides, for many students, a time before finals to get back into the right mindset to take exams.

If such a mindset exists, of course. 

But let’s not think about final exams right now. No sense feeling any stress if we don’t have to. 

Both teachers and students alike this year are mostly staying home. Four teachers were interviewed, and all of them are staying in town; three of them are  having large family gatherings and the other is spending time with exclusively immediate family. So based on our sample population, it would be fair to estimate that most teachers are spending time with the people that they care about over the break. 

Additionally, a small sample of the student population were asked what they would be doing over the break; a majority said that they were not going anywhere. However, the reason that most students were not traveling was not due to Covid; rather, it was because they weren’t doing anything for the holiday, or had family coming over to their house. Only three students said Covid was a major factor in their decision to stay home over the holiday break. The other 39, did not feel influenced by the Coronavirus in the slightest, because this new normal after the pandemic allows Warren students to embrace old traditions. The seven students who told us they were going to travel for Thanksgiving this year were going to visit family; something that they expressed was sorely missed.   

We are not out of this pandemic yet, but with vaccination rates of the United States still at a steady climb, the safety of travel is increasing as well. This strikes a clear contrast with last year, when the pandemic was at its peak, and the main advice from the government was to stay home and only spend time with the people who were immediate family. 

At this  last year, the United States was just recognizing the Coronavirus as a serious threat; the first at-home covid test had just been authorized by the FDA, and the daily case average was reaching its first peak.

But things are getting better; we have been moving in the right direction on the vaccine front; the daily case average has been steadily decreasing since last year; booster shots are on the verge of being authorized; and the government is starting to loosen restrictions. 

Overall, from our sample selection of students and faculty at Warren, the majority is staying in town over the break for various reasons. For the most part, it is fair to estimate that a majority of people are having large family gatherings and a few are sticking with their intermediate family only. Clearly, this is somewhat of a big difference from how people spent Thanksgiving last year; no one was having really big family gatherings or leaving their house due to the Pandemic. But seeing that the pandemic has lasted so long, people are done with the “6ft apart rule” and will be sitting very close at the dinner table over the break.

Loading...

Sorry, there was an error loading this poll.

Vote

Let us know what your plans are below! Have a good break!!

*art taken from clipart library