Jenna Gibson 

Opinions Editor 

After our Thanksgiving break ended, I came to the realization that I’ve been hardcore procrastinating all of the schoolwork I have to do over the next few weeks. The time for finals is upon us. For some reason, this same situation happens every semester, but I can’t ever make myself be a better student and do my work early. I like to tell myself that I work best under pressure, and, although I doubt that that’s actually true, I’m sticking with it.  

This week, I’ve thought a lot about what I’m thankful for: my family, my friends, my pets, my charm and good looks…but I also keep thinking about another thing I’m thankful for: Christmas. And that’s not just because Christmas coming up means that school is out for a month (but that factor is definitely a part of it).  

I love Christmas. If you know me at all, you know that I’m living for every single Hallmark Christmas movie and that I’m counting down the days till 25 Days of Christmas starts on Freeform. Ever since November hit, I’ve been listening to Christmas music on repeat, despite some of my friends’ will. “Mistletoe” by Justin Bieber or “Last Christmas” by Wham! are some personal favorites—and, of course, “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by the one and only Mariah Carey. But now that Thanksgiving has passed, it’s perfectly appropriate for me to be festive.  

I’m especially excited for Christmas this year because it’s actually getting colder outside. Living in Mississippi, though, I know that it could easily be 80 degrees tomorrow, but here’s hoping that we actually have a cold Christmas. I know snow is a completely illogical dream, but it happened once. It could always happen again (but I doubt it).  

With that in mind, I still think it’s important to be grateful for everything, this week especially. Many times this year, I’ve often wished that time would go faster. I want it to be Christmas break NOW, but I still have a few more weeks with my friends and classmates that I shouldn’t want to rush (especially since I won’t be in the country next semester). And I know that it’s hard to wish for time to slow down when you have five tests and three papers and ten billion other things to do in the next few weeks, but the holidays are a time to be appreciative and love everything around you (or maybe that’s just me and the abundance of cheesy Christmas movies I’ve seen).  

Don’t let all your obligations get in the way of being thankful for your friends and family around you, and although I wish that these next two weeks would just be over with so I can go home and watch movies and pet my dogs for a month, be sure to let the people around you know that you’re grateful for them (unless you aren’t grateful for them, then just don’t say anything).