The Times Are-a Changin'

Tuesday night, after class, I went home for the first time in quite some time.  Though a short break, the Thanksgiving vacation has always been one I would consider to be a sweet one – something I always looked forward to.  Throughout my undergraduate years, the routine would be rather simple:  Go home and see some people I haven’t seen for quite some time, eat tons of food, and take a break before the rush of finals took its toll on me.

Well, this vacation was surely that – to an extent. I did notice something that was a bit different.  Throughout the years, less and less people go home for Thanksgiving break for one reason or another.  Some people have jobs; others have a significant other that they met in college and spend the break with them elsewhere; and, as each year went on, I noticed that we all would make less of an attempt to see one another.  I guess this comes with age and “growing up,” however, as a graduate student, I guess this is the first year I truly realized how different things really are.

While Adelphi’s five-year STEP is a great program for attaining a master’s degree one year earlier than most people would, it definitely is a “step” out of reality for those in it. Technically, we go to school for five years in pursuit of a certification that would usually take six years.  In reality, however, it seems as if we use that fifth year to stall the reality that is life by still maintaining the same breaks as a regular college student, even having many of the same professors we did during our undergraduate years.

I guess that one argument people would use is that, as teachers, we are going to have very similar breaks as those who are in college.  However, what I realized this year is that the majority of those whom I used to spend Thanksgiving breaks with don’t quite have the same time off that we, as teachers will.

Am I saying I won’t/do love the time off? Of course I do.  Anyone who is anyone should love time off where they can gather their thoughts and prepare for the various other aspects of their life.  I guess I’m just sad to be “growing up” knowing that, while I delayed this phenomenon for one more year, I will probably be building my career and life elsewhere without the comfort of Thanksgiving break – and this concept of “home” before the stress that is finals -- to always remain the same.