POLL (for law students): Going Home for Thanksgiving? Forum

[Cupidity]

You guys are acting like I can't study 10 hours a day while home for thanksgiving.

[AntiHuman]

Maybe my family places too much value on t-giving haha I dunno.

[clintonius]

who the hell wouldn't go home for t-giving lol?

Ummm people who live thousands of miles or 6+ hour plane rides away?

People who want to use the vital study time to the maximum (as 1Ls should be?

People who rationalize that they can wait an extra 2 weeks, when exams will be over, to see friends and family?

QFbitchslap

lol k I guess I just dont find those as valid reasons. but whatev

1. it's once a year...suck up the plane ride and ticket

2. study earlier...you had the whole semester to prepare for just 1 exam.

3. thanksgiving doesn't equal christmas...I guess I just put thanksgiving as the most important holiday of the year...personal opinion I guess....and it doesn't have to be an "American" holiday...only nubz say that. Call it something else, but it's just a day do be thankful... because quite frankly...I dont think many people say thanks every day.

This is just assuming students families live in the U.S and they go to U.S law schools. Use Southwest and plane rides from coast to coast can't be more than 5-6 hours. Or you can cry about the plane ticket/flight...to each his own

QFbi-- wait, no, lol k I guess I just dont find those as valid reasons.

[RVP11]

lol k I guess I just dont find those as valid reasons. but whatev

1. it's once a year...suck up the plane ride and ticket

2. study earlier...you had the whole semester to prepare for just 1 exam.

3. thanksgiving doesn't equal christmas...I guess I just put thanksgiving as the most important holiday of the year...personal opinion I guess....and it doesn't have to be an "American" holiday...only nubz say that. Call it something else, but it's just a day do be thankful... because quite frankly...I dont think many people say thanks every day.

This is just assuming students families live in the U.S and they go to U.S law schools. Use Southwest and plane rides from coast to coast can't be more than 5-6 hours. Or you can cry about the plane ticket/flight...to each his own

1. A lot of holidays are only once a year. If you went home for all of them you'd be traveling way too much.

2. This assumes there's some finite amount of studying that is optimal. There's not. More studying = better. Not that I haven't slacked off a bit this semester, but as a non-1L I think I earned the right to relax in September and October.

3. To most Christians, Christmas is more important than Thanksgiving. To just about all non-American Christians, it's 10,000x more important.

It would take me 10+ hours total travel time each way to be fly home. Both places are in the U.S.

[BarbellDreams]

lol k I guess I just dont find those as valid reasons. but whatev

1. it's once a year...suck up the plane ride and ticket

2. study earlier...you had the whole semester to prepare for just 1 exam.

3. thanksgiving doesn't equal christmas...I guess I just put thanksgiving as the most important holiday of the year...personal opinion I guess....and it doesn't have to be an "American" holiday...only nubz say that. Call it something else, but it's just a day do be thankful... because quite frankly...I dont think many people say thanks every day.

This is just assuming students families live in the U.S and they go to U.S law schools. Use Southwest and plane rides from coast to coast can't be more than 5-6 hours. Or you can cry about the plane ticket/flight...to each his own

1. A lot of holidays are only once a year. If you went home for all of them you'd be traveling way too much.

2. This assumes there's some finite amount of studying that is optimal. There's not. More studying = better. Not that I haven't slacked off a bit this semester, but as a non-1L I think I earned the right to relax in September and October.

3. To most Christians, Christmas is more important than Thanksgiving. To just about all non-American Christians, it's 10,000x more important.

It would take me 10+ hours total travel time each way to be fly home. Both places are in the U.S.

I agree with this. Especially point 2.

Look, you can say what you want and tell people to suck it up and its not a big deal but to each his own. From talking to people that are going home I am thoroughly convinced that they are worried about those that aren't and like bitching about how its not a big deal to try and convince themselves that its actually ok. To each his own, I for one am happy the rest of these people are gonna go home and "study" with the family while I stay here and have 4 or 5 days of extra studying with finals in 2 weeks.

[keg411]

You guys are acting like I can't study 10 hours a day while home for thanksgiving.

QFT

[BriaTharen]

Going home just for Thanksgiving itself, but wouldn't dream of it if I didn't live under 2 hours away from my parents.

[dailygrind]

i live about 8 hours away from school. i have tickets to go home tomorrow morning, but the more i think about it the more i want to cancel. feel really bad about it though.

[dakatz]

1L year is immensely important. Jobs/careers are very important. But no job/career/educational issue will ever be more important than family. I will most certainly be studying every minute I'm home aside from Thanksgiving dinner itself. But it would be unthinkable for me to not go home given the mere 5 hr bus ride it takes to get there.

[dailygrind]

1L year is immensely important. Jobs/careers are very important. But no job/career/educational issue will ever be more important than family. I will most certainly be studying every minute I'm home aside from Thanksgiving dinner itself. But it would be unthinkable for me to not go home given the mere 5 hr bus ride it takes to get there.

that's kinda how i feel about it too, but, fuckin a man. i'm gonna lose about 16 hours. yeah, i'll be able to study some while i'm on the bus, but really, it's gonna be half as effective as being cloistered at my desk, maybe less. so i'll be losing at least 1 solid day of work just in travel time. plus im gonna see my family in 1 month anyway.

[dakatz]

1L year is immensely important. Jobs/careers are very important. But no job/career/educational issue will ever be more important than family. I will most certainly be studying every minute I'm home aside from Thanksgiving dinner itself. But it would be unthinkable for me to not go home given the mere 5 hr bus ride it takes to get there.

that's kinda how i feel about it too, but, fuckin a man. i'm gonna lose about 16 hours. yeah, i'll be able to study some while i'm on the bus, but really, it's gonna be half as effective as being cloistered at my desk, maybe less. so i'll be losing at least 1 solid day of work just in travel time. plus im gonna see my family in 1 month anyway.

Just try and stay as disciplined as you can. Pop in some headphones to kill the chatter on the bus, and you can definitely use almost all that time for work. As for your time at home, try and treat it just like school. Thats what I'm going to try and do. I'll set my clock just as early as I do at school, and I'll go find someplace quiet outside of my house as to have zero distractions. My family totally understands, as I'm sure yours will too. Though 16 hrs is a bit more than the 10 hours I'm looking at.

[dailygrind]

i called home and canceled. i thought about it a bit more, and including connector time and potential thanksgiving traffic, i was looking at 20 hours minimum, and probably more. just couldn't stomach that much shitty study time in the middle of 1L. parents were definitely understanding, went a lot better than i expected.

[gwuorbust]

i called home and canceled. i thought about it a bit more, and including connector time and potential thanksgiving traffic, i was looking at 20 hours minimum, and probably more. just couldn't stomach that much shitty study time in the middle of 1L. parents were definitely understanding, went a lot better than i expected.

literally, I am sitting in the airport right now listening to these loud fucks all around me. want to be studying, can feel the crush of all the work not getting done

[AntiHuman]

1L year is immensely important. Jobs/careers are very important. But no job/career/educational issue will ever be more important than family. I will most certainly be studying every minute I'm home aside from Thanksgiving dinner itself. But it would be unthinkable for me to not go home given the mere 5 hr bus ride it takes to get there.

+1000

I guess that is what I was trying to get at. I guess I am trying to study smarter...not harder. How much good can really come from studying 1 or 2 days more. Just fit all that material before you leave or after you come back....Anyhow...it's more important to study smarter..than harder.

I also feel people feel there is a direct correlation between studying hard and grades. "If I just stay home for thanksgiving and study 1-2 days more...I'll get higher grades and it'll help me" Sure, ...but people are also forgetting the amount of luck involved in hitting top 5-10 percent.

And good job man on the 5 hour bus ride...I guess I'm the kind of guy who would bike home 5 hours for thanksgiving if I had to...I just feel it should be a holiday everyone values highly...not just Americans, but I didn't mean any harsh comments...to each his own. Regardless, good luck on finals everyone!

[BarbellDreams]

Its simple:

1.Realistically there is almost no chance you study nearly the same amount at home during Thanksgiving break when everyone hasn't seen you and you're tired and miss everyone as you would at your own home/library/etc.

2. In the absolutely minimal chance that you do study just as many hours, the studying will not be nearly as concentrated/effective.

This thread is just about people who are going home trying to justify going home and convince themselves its not a big deal. If you truly believed it was no big deal you wouldn't feel the need to respond and defend your position, you would just fly home without caring what others thought. While half of our section flew home today to hang out with family I am finishing up editing of my Torts outline. I would love to be home too, but its 1L, and you can see them in 2 weeks. You dont get a re-do for this.

[CG614]

For those not going home: good thing grades are directly correlated to the number of hours you study.

[beach_terror]

For those not going home: good thing grades are directly correlated to the number of hours you study.

lol

[BarbellDreams]

For those not going home: good thing grades are directly correlated to the number of hours you study.

You forgot to add: "Sincerely, someone who is going home."

Case in point.

[IAFG]

i hope everyone who thinks they're going to get a lot done at home comes back and tells us how that worked out. i know i would get nothing done.

[OperaSoprano]

My parents came to see me this past weekend. Due to the 3,000 mile trip, I won't be traveling myself until finals end. I did the same thing as a 1L. Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

[emorystud2010]

.

[CG614]

For those not going home: good thing grades are directly correlated to the number of hours you study.

You forgot to add: "Sincerely, someone who is going home."

Case in point.

Sincerely, someone who only went home for Thanksgiving day and is back studying Fri - Sun. Also, someone who knows that it is your understanding of the material that matters most, not who has the biggest outline and spent the most hours studying.

[BunkMoreland]

went home; enjoying myself


<-- is 2L with a job and only 2 real classes

[Adjudicator]

I don't give a damn about Thanksgiving. I was roped in to attending a family celebration this year, but I'm going to make it known that I will not be celebrating next year.

[concurrent fork]

1L year is immensely important. Jobs/careers are very important. But no job/career/educational issue will ever be more important than family. I will most certainly be studying every minute I'm home aside from Thanksgiving dinner itself. But it would be unthinkable for me to not go home given the mere 5 hr bus ride it takes to get there.

This, unless you are international/your family does not celebrate the holiday. Spending thanksgiving with family and friends is infinitely more important than cramming in a few more hours studying. If that time is going to have a measurable effect on your preparation for exams, you are doing something wrong.