Just before the end of the semester and finals week comes the thing that recharges students:a trip home, time with family and friends, time to sleep, (usually) amazing home-cooked meals and more tryptophan than anyone can handle. Although the break is only a few days long, there is enough time for students to kick back and relax for the first time since fall break. Even though the holiday is still appreciated by most, it seems that something is, and has been trying to, take it over.

With the rise of mass production and ever-advancing methods of advertising, the lives of most Americans are being taken over by business-driven values. Businesses looking to milk people of their holiday-intentioned money have been using Thanksgiving as their medium.

The stereotypical Thanksgiving has been formed over the years by advertising. Magazines and other holiday propaganda have even formed what Americans eat at Thanksgiving dinner: turkey, corn, peas, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and whatever else. In reality, the first Thanksgiving had a larger variety of dishes that today are unheard of as dinner entrees on 'turkey day' such as fish, swan, deer, chestnuts, lobsters and eel, while potatoes were not eaten because they were thought to be poisonous and a bad pea crop meant no peas were present at the dinner. Although few will complain about the current American Thanksgiving dishes, the fact that they have been formed by advertising execs in decades past does not provide as genuine an atmosphere for which many hope.

Today's Thanksgiving has been taken over by corporations. For example, the Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City is sponsored by Macy's and the balloons are sponsored by other businesses. Pre-Thanksgiving, day-of and post-Thanksgiving day sales drive people to plan their holiday shopping schedules. For example, 'Black Friday,' as many retailers call the Friday after Thanksgiving, is notorious for its long lines, crazy sales and odd hours, where some stores offer greater sales at five or six in the morning than later in the same day.

Aside from the discounts a person can save on Christmas gifts thanks to 'Black Friday,' Thanksgiving can and should be appreciated for other more meaningful reasons. It is a day that was designed to unify people, specifically the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, something which all should appreciate considering the melting-pot of races, religions and cultures America has become. Also, especially thanks to the government's recognition of Thanksgiving as a legal holiday, people are able to take at least one day before the chaos of Christmas to take a step back from their usually busy and chaotic lives to look at what they have, both material and immaterial. It should also be appreciated for its unbiased intent. The day can be appreciated for its cross-cultural meaning as well because the tradition can be practiced by every religion and point of view thanks to its non-religious basis. It is necessary for an individual, especially a student with a generally hectic life, or else a person may forget its true values and principles and be consumed by the consumerism that surrounds the 2 p.m. dinner.