With Thanksgiving approaching, the Journalism Staff took a survey reflecting on their favorite, or in some cases not so favorite, Thanksgiving traditions.
They were first all asked where they usually spend Thanksgiving. The majority of the staff stays in Murfreesboro for the holiday; this could be because up until this year Rutherford County only had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off, but a few staff members said they venture to surrounding cities such as Spring Hill, Smyrna, Nashville, Pulaski and Franklin. Hannah Nelson is the only member who said she spends Thanksgiving out of state. Nelson travels to her aunt’s house in Alabama.
Many J-Staff members share that they have relatively large Thanksgivings with extended family- grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins- who they love. Though there is one member of the staff who wishes they spent Thanksgiving with the other side of their family. Like this unnamed staff member, most only spend the day with one side of their family, but Allie Giroux actually celebrates the holiday twice, once with each side of the family. Perhaps a certain member would prefer to spend their Thanksgiving like Giroux.
The staff seemed to enjoy the preceding questions given that they started to show their personalities a bit more.
Their favorite Thanksgiving foods included some fan favorites and unique tastes. Mac n’ cheese and mashed potatoes are the staff’s favorite dish by a long shot. Tristan Hansen shared that she likes to eat her mashed potatoes with gravy but could not decide if it was her favorite dish. Pumpkin pie and ham her also high in Hansen’s rankings. Many other staff members had a hard time choosing just one dish as well. Jackson Bratko stated that “stuffing, corn [and] potato[es]” were all tied for first. Marciana Johnson also enjoys stuffing, but she prefers it “when it [is] cooked with the turkey”. Choclate pudding pie, banana pudding, brownies, deviled eggs, fruit salad and green bean casserole all also made the favorites list, and in true Rhys Stephens’s fashion, he said “the can canned cranberry sauce is canned in” is his favorite Thanksgiving dish.
When it comes to favorite Thanksgiving memories, the staff agreed that spending the day with family and eating are the best memories of all. Yet, Shiya Patel sums it up best by saying, “just being happy with my family”, and Julie Capouch said her favorite Thanksgiving memory was her “first Thanksgiving with Mr. Capouch”. Some, however, have found themselves in some pretty memorable Thanksgiving shenanigans. Well, at least, Nelson has. She stated her favorite memory “has to be the night before Thanksgiving when my cousin and I were running around the hotel when everyone was asleep, and we started jumping on the elevator and almost got stuck”.
Each staff member was asked who they would thank, dead or alive, for his or her influence on their life. Most stated they would thank their mom, dad, grandmother, grandfather or great grandmother for their impact on their life. Others thanked a friend and fellow J-Staff member. For instance, Freddie Brock thanked “bestie boo Maia”, and Giroux thanked “Hannah Noel Nelson because she is cool and amazing at everything. She is also a really good chef.” Giroux, in fact, requested for the quote to be included in the article. Kaiden Farmer thanked Jesus, and the staff was not surprised when Byron Seth Knight thanked Thomas Paine.
