Kelley Hungerford

Copy editor

Peek around the corner of the week, and you’ll find Thanksgiving Break quickly approaching. Yes, it is the time of year when we eat turkey with gravy and bake pumpkins and squash; it is the time of year when we once more question the humanity of the pilgrims and the helpfulness of Squanto and his tribe; it is the time of year when we, supposedly, give thanks for whatever it is we are appreciative of. But I think there is something missing.

Our society thinks of Thanksgiving as a time to be grateful for what others have done for us and for the good blessings bestowed on us by whatever gods there may be. I do not question this: I cannot begin to list all the people I am thankful for. However, we often forget to show gratitude to the most crucial person in our lives: Ourselves.

I am the most important person in my life; that sounds selfish, but it’s true. I have a great love for my friends and family, but when it boils down to it, I am the person who is going to have the most impact on my life. I make my own decisions. I chose what to do with my body and my mind. I am the owner of my thoughts, feelings, sentimentalities, biases, hates, loves, heart and soul. Belonging to myself, I see no reason not to be thankful to my owner, to myself.

Briefly, a list: I am thankful to myself for deciding to go to college. I am thankful to myself for keeping a strong relationship with my parents, even while seeing others go through those awful “rebel years” of high school. I am thankful for having the industriousness to write letters to my friends, even during the busy school year; for discovering dance and pursuing that hobby; for choosing friends who are a positive influence in my life; for not having any desire to fit in a pant size that is a low prime number; for not taking pointless amounts of time to apply make-up daily, but instead loving my face unmasked, blemishes and all; for never, never, never being regretful of anything that once made me smile, no matter the consequences; for putting great faith in Genesis 2:25, despite my lack of religion; for striving.

Truly, I am calling on you all to look at yourselves with love and to see in yourselves the beauty of your own existence. Give to yourself the gratitude, appreciation and thankfulness that you give others in this brief period of thanksgiving.

Actually, extend that period and see yourself as such in every minute of every hour of every day. Look in the mirror (I’m serious) and declare your love and thanks for yourself. Better yet, look at your reflection in a window of any of the academic buildings and shout, for instance, “I am Kelley, and I am thankful for having the courage to declare my self-love in front of these other students!” or something like that.

Basically, I just want people to stop all this emo, low self-esteem nonsense. We all go through it at some point, but we’re in college now, and it is time to see ourselves as we truly are and build on our strengths instead of dwelling on our weaknesses. You are the only one who can do this. You are the owner of yourself.

Now go bake yourself pumpkin pie and quit your bitching.