Many Brandeis students choose to travel back home for Thanksgiving break and spend quality time with their families before the beginning of finals. However, some students choose to remain at Brandeis until the end of the semester. Alessia Stewart ’20 spent her break on campus with her best friend from her hometown.
Stewart is originally from Dallas, TX. She mentioned that flights around Thanksgiving are very expensive and that she would prefer to visit her family around Rosh Hashanah or the middle of the semester, since there are only about 3 weeks left at Brandeis after Thanksgiving and before the long winter break, and traveling is sometimes very “tiring.”
Stewart’s best friend Alaina came to visit her from her college in Chicago for the Thanksgiving break. On the holiday, the two girls had movie marathons in Polaris Lounge for the day, and visited the Stein for their Thanksgiving dinner. With turkey, potatoes and other Thanksgiving staples, Stewart and her friend “loved to have what felt like a homemade meal” at school despite being away for the long weekend.
This is Stewart’s first holiday away from her family and her home in Texas. “It didn’t really feel like Thanksgiving without them,” she said. Despite this, the friends still made the best of their break.
Following the dinner on Thanksgiving, the two went to a movie theater in West Newton and spent all of Friday in Boston, shopping in Downtown Crossing. Stewart showed her friend more of her favorite places in Boston, such as Quincy Market to see the lit up Christmas tree, and they also walked along the Charles River.
Transportation was scarce on campus, since neither the BranVans to Waltham nor the shuttles to Boston and Cambridge were running during the break: “I didn’t realize how much I rely on the Boston shuttle … I Ubered more in those four days than I ever have before,” Stewart said.
As all of the students went to their respective homes, Stewart explained that Brandeis was “super empty,” and that the poor weather made the campus feel “dark and empty” in comparison to the normal atmosphere of the school. She said that it “felt like a new world when people started coming back on Sunday.”
Although the campus did feel different without its vibrant student body, Stewart mentioned that her friend really enjoyed Brandeis and the campus, “especially being around trees” since her school is in the downtown Chicago area.
Next year, Stewart said that she would probably stay at school for Thanksgiving again, maybe starting a new holiday tradition right on campus, and visit her family earlier in the year. Overall, Stewart “had a good time” on campus for Thanksgiving and said that it was very relaxing, even though she missed her family.
Thankfully when she flew home for one weekend in October, her family cooked her a Thanksgiving dinner so she wouldn’t miss out on the full experience of the holiday.
