Thanksgiving is a time for reflection, but also for relaxation, good food and family. As Oakland University students prepare for Thanksgiving break, many of them are anticipating their holiday plans and what traditions they are looking forward to most this year.

Below, OU students share their most treasured Thanksgiving customs and detail how they plan to spend the day.  

Erika Head, Junior 

“On Thanksgiving, I enjoy taking intentional time to be present with my family for the day. My favorite Thanksgiving tradition is eating lunch and dinner at my grandma’s house and spending time with my cousins.

“This year, I plan to host a Friendsgiving with my high school and college friends on Wednesday and celebrate Thanksgiving with my family on Thursday. In recent years, I have invited my out of state college friends (who live too far to go home for a few days) to come to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner and other holiday celebrations.” 

Isabella Pacifico, Junior 

“What I enjoy about Thanksgiving would probably be cooking for my family and spending the whole day with them. All of my siblings are in school and my parents are teachers, so we have never spent a Thanksgiving apart. We always celebrate by watching the Thanksgiving parade and cooking dinner together.

“My favorite Thanksgiving tradition would probably be what comes after dinner: we always spend the whole night playing board games while eating pumpkin pie and drinking coffee. I just love being with my family and enjoying every moment with them.”

Murryum Farooqi, Junior 

“We usually all get together and do a reading of the Islamic holy book the Quran in honor of my late grandmother while the turkey bakes. I have a big family with a lot of cousins, and now they have kids too, so I am most excited to hang out with everyone and catch up on what’s going on in everyone’s lives.

“My absolute favorite Thanksgiving food I wish I could eat all the time is stuffing. Also, pecan pie is the best pie — no ifs, ands or buts.

Haley Allen, Senior 

“What I enjoy most [about Thanksgiving] is spending time with family and catching up with people I don’t see that often. For this Thanksgiving, I will be going to my grandma’s, my mom’s and my aunt’s house. We do not have any traditions — we usually just eat and then get to hang out together.”

Blair Sakwa, Senior

“Some of my favorite family traditions include rooting for the Lions with my cousins, listening to Taylor Swift in the kitchen while helping my mom and eating myself sick while wearing an oversized sweater. Thanksgiving rocks.”

Madi Saunders, Graduate student

“I would say the thing I enjoy the most is seeing my extended family that I only see once a year. I plan to celebrate at my Aunt’s house in Pennsylvania. Not too many traditions — just watching the parade, cooking thanksgiving dinner and being together under one roof.”