Thanksgiving is a day when families gather to share what they are thankful for. The smell of turkey and gravy fills the room, and it is perfectly acceptable to eat until one can not walk. It is celebrated in America to give thanks for the Pilgrims’ first good harvest in the Plymouth colony in 1621. But Wilson, just like the rest of our country, is filled with people who do not share this heritage.

“I’m from China, but I was adopted. My mom is American, but we lived in Central America for my whole life. I moved here two years ago. We celebrate Thanksgiving with the family, eat turkey and everything else. We lived in Paraguay, and got together with our family — like cousins, aunts and uncles, and we only celebrate — eat turkey, potatoes, and everything else.” -Sara Rakas, freshman

“Last year a friend, who is American, he invited me and my family over to their house and we had Thanksgiving dinner with them. But this year we’re probably going to stay home and it’s going to be a regular day.” -Pablo Lira, junior from Chile

“My mom is Mexican but my dad is Japanese so we usually have a combination of Mexican food, American food, and Japanese food.” -Litzy Koga, freshman

“It’s usually all the family, and we have a lot of family. So it’s all the family getting up in someone’s house and then we have like the traditional like turkey and stuff.” -Nima Ghasoor, junior from Iran

“We do celebrate, but it’s nothing like the tradition. So we eat with my family. We eat chicken, well, turkey normally, and the whole family has to be together; sometimes we go with friends. My dad is Mexican and my mother is Spanish, in Mexico they do it like this. The main thing is to eat turkey and say thanks to God for everything.” -Mauro Lemini, freshman
“We do the same thing that normal American families do, we have a big dinner, like the whole family comes together, we say what we’re thankful for, and we just have a good time. It’s not the same food, half of the food we eat is Mexican food, not American food. We still have turkey and mash potatoes but we also have like tacos, tamales, and chilaquiles, and stuff like that.”

-Sebastian Encinas, sophomore