According to historians, the event commonly known as the “First Thanksgiving” was celebrated at the end of October in 1621. However, Thanksgiving was not a holiday until 1864, when Abraham Lincoln made it a federal holiday. Since 1864, we have had a total of 152 Thanksgivings, each with different traditions and many things to be thankful for. To find out what students at Capital University are thankful for, we asked a few students and faculty to share their opinions.
First, Janette McDonald, professor of psychology, says she has many things to be thankful for. Some of these things included friends, family, home and freedoms.
“I am even thankful for my enemies and the pain in my life,” McDonald said. “…rough times give you a reason to be thankful.”
Junior Kyle Miller is thankful for his loving family, his friends, the education he has and his beautiful girlfriend. Lastly, Miller is thankful for the opportunities that God has given him that many people do not have. We as college students in America have so much to be grateful for, including our many opportunities to learn and grow.
While we are thankful for our opportunities, education and even our trials, sometimes it is nice to be thankful for the simple things in life. I mean, we are college students; what’s more important to us than food?
Sophomore Hannah Dieker is thankful for the fact that her mom is wonderful and brings her food every weekend. Also on the food train are students Natalie Sambnuk, Katherine Bustos-Chavez and Jon Daugherty.
Sambnuk is thankful for the macaroni and cheese in the MDR, which I think we all can agree has been quite fantastic as of late. Bustos-Chavez is thankful for Latin American food, which is an excellent and unique thing to be thankful for. Lastly, Daugherty is thankful for good food and good friends, an excellent combination.
As college students, there few more important things than food. These next ones might not rank as high as food, but they are close seconds.
Sophomore Bayley Schonauer says that she is incredibly thankful for her bed. We all can relate; sleep is the best part of the day for some of us.
On another note, we have senior Joshua Heeter who is thankful for his beautiful girlfriend Emily and the moments shared and memories made.
Aside from food and sleep, there are plenty of other things to be thankful for.
For example, senior Nike McCampbell is thankful for her job and also Robert Downey Jr. I mean…we’ve all seen Iron Man right? Enough said.
Last but not least, sophomore Taylor McCloud is thankful for pugs and her roommate.
On a serious note, we have several things we can all be thankful for. Whether it’s your enemies, or your girlfriend. Maybe it’s that you have a place to sleep at night or food in your belly. It might even be that you are thankful for the opportunities that we sometimes take for granted.
Whatever it is, I encourage you to think about at least one thing you are thankful for because that is the purpose of Thanksgiving. It’s not the delicious food (though, that is a plus), it is the fact that we can all come together and take time out of our busy schedules to appreciate the things that we have and the ability to be joined in celebration as a nation.
