Giving Thanks

O great ethereal, non-religious, potentially non-existent maker and creator, on this third Thursday of the month of November, so proclaimed to be our day of thanks by the almighty government of the United States of America, a holiday recreationally made in honor of starving Pilgrims at the mercy of Native American gourmands, we raise our voices and give thanks for the bountiful goodness this year has brought.

We give thanks for the food on our plates, the clothes on our backs, the guarantee that we will have housing for at least four years, and the chance to learn from the greatest scholars of our time. We give thanks for this university, which, though it sometimes may mire itself in its own bureaucracy, consists of many administrators and faculty who work hard to serve their students. We give thanks for the maintenance staff, who fix the things we break, for Housekeeping, which cleans up after the messes we make, and for Public Safety and Barnard Security, which keep us safe with their vigilance all day, every day, and into the long hours of the night.

We give thanks for this great city, which makes every moment more exciting than the last. We are thankful for student rush, for the Passport to New York, and for a reliable 24-hour public transportation system to get us there. In the cold and blustery winter months, we are thankful for Wollman Rink, for Bryant Park, for Rockefeller Center, for the windows on Fifth Avenue, and for the light show in Grand Central Terminal and on College Walk. We are thankful for the soup kitchens and homeless shelters that clothe and feed this city's poor in the coldest months, and for the spirit of good cheer that pervades the entire city during the holiday season.

Though we sometimes forget how much so, we are thankful for each other—thankful for the informed, opinionated, and educated voices that surround us. The good deeds, the fair warning, and the inspirational advice that we receive from our peers are important parts of our educational experience at this university. Over the past two-and-a-half months, our campus has faced many challenges, and we are thankful for our community's resolve and willingness to work through them. We hope that everyone may share this feeling of thankfulness with a wry smile, a nice word, or a wave hello to those we know well, to those we know only a little, and even to those we know not at all. May we spread this feeling of thankfulness to all.