As students leave for Thanksgiving break, some celebrate the holiday in a different manner than others.

First-year Emma Griffith traveled to a ski camp in West Yellowstone with several teammates on the cross-county team.

“It was pretty relaxed, we just sort of hung out,” Griffith said. “We would go skiing and running — just walk around town.”

Griffith has been going to the area since middle school with teammates. This year, her sister, who went to the camp with her own teammates, joined her, as well as their parents.

As for Griffith’s group, they spent half of Thanksgiving Day skiing, and then the other half was spent cooking.

“Everyone sort of signed up to do a certain dish, so we just spent the rest of the day cooking, so that was fun,” Griffith said.

Griffith hopes to spend every Thanksgiving at the camp. For Griffith, Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on her life.

“I think that it’s very important to take a second and recognize what I’m privileged to have in my life,” Griffith said.

Junior Isaiah Banta spent his Thanksgiving on Whitman Campus. Banta, an RA in Lyman, decided to spend the holiday cooking with residents and his family.

“This was first Thanksgiving not at home, but home came to me,” Banta said. His mom traveled to Whitman, and joined in the festivities.

The menu included deviled eggs, twice baked potatoes, green beans and chicken with spice rub.

“Me and my mom were cooking from like 11 to 5, but it was fun,” Banta said.

Banta usually has Thanksgiving with his mom’s family in Los Angeles.

“It just means a time where we get together, have good food. It’s like the family reunion,” Banta said.

This Thanksgiving was fun as well.

“It was really cool to have residents there who didn’t go home,” Banta said.

Junior Andrea Gu celebrated Thanksgiving this year, but not because of the history and mythology that surrounds the holiday in the United States. Gu is Canadian.

“The holiday’s historical relevance is not very important to us as [my parents] are Chinese immigrants, so my parents never had the tradition of cooking a big turkey dinner with the whole family,” Gu said.

Gu spent the Thanksgiving break in Vancouver, Canada, with friends and family.

“My good friend from Whitman came back home with me to experience it so it was even more special that way,” Gu said. “My mom had to stay in Germany, but I was lucky that my dad flew to Vancouver to celebrate and cook for us.”

Gu considers herself a celebrator of Thanksgiving, just in a different way than her peers.

“We still use the date to get together and express thankfulness for each other and what we are given, just not with the typical foods or activities,” Gu said.

Even though Gu doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving for its US significance, she believes Thanksgiving can be a time of reflection for everyone.

“To me, it is special because it means spending some much needed time with family and close ones during the cold, winter season,” Gu said. “It is also quite the sentimental time of year, before finals and the holidays so I feel very reflective of the things I am thankful for.”