Although many students are excited and ready to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday, some are choosing other options to help reduce their end-of-semester stresses.
Many buildings on campus, including the Student Union Memorial Center and Park Student Union, are closed on Thanksgiving. But residence halls stay open, which gives students the option to spend the holiday on campus.
Shannon Rzucidlo, a theatre arts education freshman, said because of the large amount of homework she needs to complete over the weekend, and the fact that she has strep throat, she has opted to spend most of the holiday in her dorm room.
"Tomorrow I'm going to go to dinner at my grandma's," Rzucidlo said. "The rest of my break I'm going to stay in my dorm room to study for finals, catch up on 50 essays I need to write and check the Facebook every five minutes."
Rzucidlo said although she'd prefer to relax, she doesn't mind spending most of her holiday completing schoolwork because she already had a Thanksgiving dinner at her friend's house and at her sorority house.
"I want to take it easy, but I'm not going to," Rzucidlo. "I'm going to be a maniac."
Jen McGraw, a geosciences sophomore, is using the weekend to take the opportunity to do an activity she enjoys, rather than sitting down for the traditional turkey dinner.
"I don't like Thanksgiving," McGraw said. "We don't really do anything special."
Instead of going back to her hometown of Phoenix, McGraw will travel to Southern California to go on a rock climbing expedition.
Although McGraw said she was excited about the adventure, she admits her family isn't thrilled about the idea.
"My mom's kind of pissed," McGraw said.
Craig Stockavas, a geosciences sophomore, said although he is returning home for Thanksgiving, he'll be devoting a lot of his downtime to cycling.
"I'll go home, I'll meet up with my teammates, and we'll go ride for three or four hours a day," Stockavas said.
Although he will be training on Thanksgiving Day, Stockavas said his family is still supportive of his choice.
"As long as I'm not late for dinner, they'll be all right," Stockavas said.
Some students said they were anxiously awaiting their chance to go home and relax with their loved ones.
Josh Turkeltaub, a freshman majoring in molecular and cellular biology, said he had a lot of motives to go home for the holiday.
"I'm so excited to go home because I don't want to do my laundry," Turkeltaub said.
Turkeltaub said even the huge load of schoolwork he needs to complete over the break won't dampen his spirits.
"There's nothing stressing me out right now," Turkeltaub said. "I have so much homework, but I don't even care."
Jessica Estes, a communication senior, agreed that even fast-approaching assignment due dates won't prevent her from going home and celebrating with her family.
"Thanksgiving comes but once a year," Estes said. "Homework is like 52 weeks a year for me."