Thanksgiving is the time of year we all gather around for some overcooked turkey, underwhelming NFL games and time with family members we didn’t know we had. It’s also a holiday full of hustle and bustle as people travel across town, the state or the country to be together with their loved ones. But some of us have to hit the road or the airport faster than others because of how short the break is at ULM.

For a holiday that focuses on being thankful, it’s hard to do that if some students can’t leave until 24 hours before the big feast.

I don’t know why our breaks are split up, but there’s a really easy solution to this. Maybe it’s the UL System and not ULM’s fault, but why can’t we scrap fall break—what is essentially a long weekend—and slap that onto the beginning of the week of Thanksgiving?

I’m lucky to only have to drive two hours to get home, so leaving after a noon class on Wednesday isn’t too stressful for me. But others aren’t as lucky. Imagine your family lives so far away that you have to split up your drive between two days.

I’m really not in peak form to put up four touchdowns in my family’s backyard football league if I’ve been crammed in a car for two days. I also don’t get the point of Wednesday classes if they’re only for morning classes. Just shut it down on Tuesday at that point.

Two years ago, I had a friend who had to catch a flight to make it home in time. His professor had an exam that Wednesday morning. She wouldn’t let him test early or make it up after the break, so he had to improvise to make it across the country to be home in time. All of that just to have to turn around and be back on Sunday. I understand that as a small public school we’re mostly Louisiana kids, but some of these niche programs and our pharmacy school bring in students from outside of the Boot.

I saw the survey that went out last week in an email asking about what students want in their future schedules, so it’s great to know the university has some idea that students and faculty hate going to school the day before Thanksgiving. But just in case my fellow students keep the trend of never checking emails, here’s some additional confirmation that we would rather have the week off to be with the people we love and care about.

Hopefully this time next year I’m not stressing over an awkward halfweek, and I’m packing my bags to go home whenever it’s convenient for me.