As preparations for the perfect Thanksgiving turkey are underway and students travel back home to see their loved ones, The Post’s Human Interest writers and editors shared everything they are grateful for this year. Amid all the travel stress and finals approaching in a couple of weeks, the staff has so much thanks to give.
What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish and why?
Jackson McCoy: My favorite Thanksgiving dish will always be the green bean casserole. The underappreciated hero of the Thanksgiving table, green bean casseroles are a perfect balance of savory and sweet, crunchy and chewy. My Aunt Cari's green bean casserole is one of the best, if not the best, dishes of all time.
Sophia Rooksberry: My favorite Thanksgiving dish is my cousin’s hash brown casserole: shredded potatoes baked in a bath of cheese and sour cream, topped with crispy cornflakes. It combines elements of all my favorite foods and is a sentimental dish for the whole family.
•Sophia Anness: My favorite Thanksgiving dish is cornbread casserole. I feel like it is an underrated Thanksgiving dish that is always enjoyable.
•Abby Jenkins: My favorite Thanksgiving food is a tie between cranberry sauce and pumpkin roll. Cranberry sauce is my favorite dinner food, but my Bubba makes homemade pumpkin roll and always brings me extra to take back to school because she knows how much I love it.
Does your family do anything as a tradition? Or maybe something nontraditional for the holiday?
Renae Hefty: We eat a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, with turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole and all that jazz. Afterward, we watch the “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” special or “Free Birds.”
Gina Napoli: My family loves to play a game of Uno after dessert, and it is always so fun and competitive!
Ethan Herx: We don't care much about Thanksgiving, but since my dad's family is from Kansas City, we get barbecue the day after.
Disha Hoque: My cousins always buy really cheap, bad-quality gingerbread house kits to make together on Thanksgiving and we always try to have a competition. It usually ends with all of our gingerbread houses collapsing and looking really atrocious.
What is your favorite part about Thanksgiving and why?
Rooksberry: My favorite part of Thanksgiving is spending the week with my immediate and extended family and getting to cook incredible food together.
Maia LeClair: (I love) that it snows sometimes.
Napoli: My favorite part about Thanksgiving is being surrounded by my loved ones, especially during finals season at school. It is always nice to be in the comfort of my own home.
Hefty: My favorite part is the cooking. It can be really hectic and stressful but I love it when my family works together to accomplish something. I love the excitement and anticipation before the dinner.
Who in your family are you excited to spend time with and why?
Anness: I am excited to spend time with my little sister and my mom because we always go Black Friday shopping together.
Herx: My dogs, Sheldon and Murphy. They're my boys, and I've only seen them once since the semester started.
Hadley Lynch: My favorite cousin because she’s the G.O.A.T.
Who or what are you grateful for this year?
Rooksberry: I'm grateful for my four roommates for making our house a place I'm always excited to come home to.
Herx: The Post! Everyone has been super supportive of my work and really encourages me to become a better photographer and writer. Also my dog Sheldon, he's the oldest dog we've ever had at almost 11 years old so every day he's still around is really great.
Napoli: I am grateful for the amazing professors I’ve worked with this semester. I’ve learned so much about the journalism field and obtained several leadership skills that will help me in the future.
Anness: I am grateful for all of my friends I have made in college. I am so lucky to have each and every one of them.
Jenkins: I am so incredibly grateful for such a wonderful Human Interest staff. A huge shoutout to Rooks and Disha for being absolutely amazing at their jobs and to everyone who has worked so hard this semester on top of school and everything else. You all make this section possible and every meeting is a treat.
How will you spend the rest of your break?
McCoy: Doing as close to nothing as possible.
Lynch: I will spend the rest of my break bed-rotting.
Rooksberry: I will spend the rest of my break catching up on my reading and spending time at my favorite climbing gym at home.
Jenkins: I am hoping to catch up on some reading that I haven't had the free time for. I also want to try and get back on a normal sleep schedule.
Do you look forward to Thanksgiving and why?
Anness: I do look forward to Thanksgiving because it is a time I get to see family who I don't see often.
Napoli: Yes always! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because I’ve always been a food lover.
Rooksberry: I look forward to Thanksgiving because it's a chance for me to take time off from my responsibilities and enjoy remarkable food with some of my favorite people in the world.
Hoque: I always look forward to Thanksgiving, despite it being a controversial/not popular holiday to most people, because of the excuse it gives me to see my favorite people. It has less responsibility or pressure on it compared to other holidays because it revolves around having a warm meal with loved ones and showing appreciation to others. It’s a reminder to tell my people that I love them and am thankful for them all year round and it is during such a pretty season of the year.
