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The Rocky Mountain Collegian

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The Rocky Mountain Collegian

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Give thanks, you’ve no reason not to

The time of year has come. The time of year where we say thanks to everyone and everything in our life that we have been so blessed with. Where we remember the Pilgrims and the Native Americans who came together, despite their differences on their first Thanksgiving 400 or so years ago, or so the elementary school narrative says.

Thanksgiving, just like Halloween and St. Patty’s Day, or any other holiday in the United States for that matter, has been taken from an innocent tradition to a week full of drinking and over-spending. Especially now, with Black Friday deals bombarding our Facebook feeds and inboxes.

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In these last few weeks, I’ve heard an immense amount of complaining from students. And believe me, I’m just as guilty of this as the rest of you.

We’re bombarded and overwhelmed with group projects, research papers and finals on the horizon. We’re annoyed about politics and the elections, and who won what and who posted what on Facebook last night.

The end of this semester has essentially turned into the biggest bitch-fest I’ve ever seen.

I think it’s time for us to take a step back and think about the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s time for us to actually be thankful rather than superficially participating in the spirit of the season — what a concept, right?

Before we continue our rants about how our professors have loaded it on at the end of the semester and how we’re in debt up to our eyeballs from student loans and bar tabs, let’s take a step back and be thankful that we are part of the 7 percent of individuals in the world lucky enough to be able to attain a college degree.

Before we complain about how annoying our friends’ status updates and tweets about political views are on our various social media sites, why don’t we be thankful that we even have Internet access unlike 67 percent of the world, and that sites like YouTube haven’t been completely shut down and blocked by our government. And if you don’t have Internet access, at least you have clean water — rare in some parts of the world, even today.

Instead of whining about how long Amendment 64 and Question 301 will take to go into full effect, let’s be thankful that we are in a state that allows for citizen ballot initiatives — that we have the freedom and access to change what we don’t like about our society and government.

This year, I’m thankful to be sitting in the Morgan Library with access to hundreds of computers and tablets of my choice — thankful that I even get the luxury of choosing between a Mac and a PC.

I’m thankful to have a job at the Collegian, to be able to explore my opportunities and further my goals and aspirations. I’m thankful that I could stay up all night last night applying for jobs on the Internet because, believe it or not, there ARE jobs out there, especially for us 7 percent who have a college degree.

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This Thanksgiving, before you get too caught up in the drinking and festivities, take a couple minutes and send out a tweet or two that isn’t a rant or a manifesto of sorts, but one that shares with others what you’re thankful for — genuinely.

Whether it be the latest “Twilight” movie or the fact that your grandparents are in town — I don’t care. Just be thankful; you’ve got so much to be thankful for.

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