Whether students do something unique like travel around the world or something common like eating with their family members, they all have a Thanksgiving tradition.
Junior Cristobal Mendoza and his family have a huge basketball tournament at LBJ park for Thanksgiving. The tournament lasts all day and it all started in Mexico. His family used to live in a small town and around it were more small towns. They all made their teams and created a tournament. Then, most of them came to the U.S. Some of them stayed in Austin and others in San Antonio and decided to continue with the tradition. Every Thanksgiving the people from Austin come to San Antonio to participate. The teams’ relatives watch and cheer during
the games. There used to be nine teams but last year a new one was introduced and that was the younger generation which includes Cristobal.
“My favorite part is being able to contribute to something that’s been happening before I was even born,” Mendoza said.
Sophomore Megan Schindehette travels around the country for Thanksgiving. This year she is going to Hollywood and Las Vegas. She has a family get-together before Thanksgiving and then takes off to spend Thanksgiving day in another state. She is going to Hollywood to visit celebrities’ graves and shop around and she’s going to Las Vegas to watch comedy shows and the Britney Spears show.
“I love traveling with just my mom and stepdad and not the rest of the family,” Schindehette said.
Junior Karen Michail goes Black Friday shopping that night. She goes to Walmart, Best Buy, and other stores to check out the good deals.
“I just go to a few stores and look around for things I might like,” Michail said.
Sophomore Melissa Garcia, like most people, has a family gathering. Everyone in her family brings something to eat like turkey, ham, apple pies, and cheesecakes, and they put it on the table. While they eat, they share stories and listen to music.
“When family gets together, I am the happiest because everyone is spending time together and catching up with each other,” Garcia said.
Sophomores Jazmine Ariaga and Fernanda Esquivel, besides eating tamales and drinking champurrado, they also make a bonfire while their grandparents tell stories about their uncles and aunts, and the kids run around.
“The most important thing about Thanksgiving is to get together and have a nice time,” Ariaga said.
