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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Students welcome Thanksgiving

Planes, trains and automobiles will unite many Domers with their families Thursday, but for some Notre Dame students, going home for Thanksgiving is not just gravy.Nicky Harrison, a freshman from Rochester, N.Y., will not be making the trip back home for Thanksgiving dinner. For Harrison, the time it would take to drive or fly back to New York did not seem logical given that the University only allots a two-day break for Thanksgiving. She added that plane tickets were also simply too expensive.Instead, she will spend the holiday with her friend who lives in a Chicago suburb. After sharing Thanksgiving dinner with his family, the two plan to visit Chicago for shopping and sightseeing.Harrison is planning on taking the South Shore bus line back to Notre Dame on Saturday morning."I want to be here in time for the big football game," Harrison said.Other Domers will not have to worry about catching the game on television - they will be in attendance as Notre Dame takes on Southern California. Junior Steve Sweeney left South Bend Sunday morning to spend the week at his home in Los Gatos, Calif. He will be cheering on the Irish in person Saturday."Since I've been born I've been to [almost] every Notre Dame-USC game played in California," Sweeney said.Sweeney said because he has taken many exams the past three weeks, this upcoming week is not very academically taxing, and thus he is able to take advantage of the opportunity to spend some time with his family on Thanksgiving.Few natives of the California are lucky enough to make the 2,000 mile-long journey home, however. Jennifer Rising, a sophomore from Orange, Calif., will be spending Thanksgiving on campus and attending the Thanksgiving buffet at North Dining Hall. The dining hall will be open from noon until 3:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, but both campus dining halls will be closed for dinner on Thursday night. "Hopefully I can take some food from the dining hall for Thanksgiving dinner," Rising said.Freshman Robert DeBroeck is also unable to be with his family on Thanksgiving. His family resides in the United Kingdom and going home for two days is just not possible. "I will give [my family] a phone call on Thanksgiving and send them my love, but it's a long way from England to South Bend, and I will be feeling their absence a lot," DeBroeck said.