As President Sullivan promises to increase university diversity, so class schedules must be modified to accommodate students who live outside of the Twin Cities. Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated across America, and college students must have a day to travel home to the their families to partake before Thanksgiving day.
The class of 2022 at the University of St.Thomas represents 31 states across America and has 26 international students. As an out-of-state student myself, I know how difficult travel can be around the holiday season. Minnesota is filled with snow and icy roads.
After attending St. Thomas for four years, I have noticed that many students live within a half-hour or 40 minutes of campus. Weekends are sparse because people return home for family dinners, and holidays are easy because the drive is quick. For those of use who are from out of state, flying and long drives are our only option.
Because of its size, the university is centered on relationships and connection, and it is clear that those who attend and work here value quality time. Let us expand those values into holidays with our family by allowing the day before Thanksgiving to be time for out of state students to travel home to their families.
Of course, the university has a total number of hours and classes that are required for each semester. In order to give extra time off during the holiday season, starting a day early in the fall would not hurt.
As college students, we work non-stop to accommodate our workload. The first word we use to describe our day is “busy,” and we fill our time not only with class work but also with jobs and extracurricular activities. Often times, holiday breaks are not an exception; projects and tests loom over us and require our attention during time that is meant for family and rest. With an extra day off classes, we are allowed a little catch up time and are not forced to rush from one event to the next.
The goal to increase diversity of this university cannot be limited and must be expanded to geographic location. Students from different regions of the country and world add perspective to our conversations and culture to our campus. Giving longer holiday breaks will encourage out of state students to attend St. Thomas because they see that the school makes an effort to cater to their travel needs.
College students are thankful for any time off to rest and enjoy with those we have moved away from. The goals towards greater inclusion made by the university are necessary, but in the process of doing so, scheduling and logistics of the goal must be kept in mind.
Anna Hoffman can be reached at hoff0001@stthomas.edu.