With the crisp autumn breeze in the air, and the smell of gingerbread lattes lingering in the doorways of coffee shops on campus, students have fallen into vacation-mode.
Even though Cal State Long Beach has scheduled class the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, students plan on playing hooky in lieu of going to school.
Hospitality freshman Rika Chiba said that she is going to skip her one and only scheduled class on Wednesday in order to get a head start on holiday travel.
“We traditionally go to a relative’s house out of state,” she said.
The drive takes about six to seven hours, even when there is little to no traffic, Chiba said.
She said that she usually has two classes scheduled on Wednesdays; however, one of her professors canceled her other class.
“The teacher asked how many people would show up, and two out of 50 people raised their hands,” Chiba said. “A lot of my friends and classmates are not going to class.”
Wednesday classes are regularly scheduled, even though there is a holiday on Thursday. According to CSULB Provost Donald Para, the academic calendar would be off balance if a fall break were given before Thanksgiving.
Rather than add another day of instruction in December, the Campus Calendar Committee and the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate recommended keeping the day before Thanksgiving as an instructional day, according to Para.
Last year, however, students were given the day before Thanksgiving off.
“I don’t think anybody is going to go to class,” senior international studies major, Devon Kruse, said. “[I’m not going to go to class] I only have one class so I’m going to enjoy my day.”
Freshman psychology major Kymberlee Morrison said that she still plans on going to her classes, even though half of her teachers are cancelling class.
“I’m still deciding if I should go,” Morrison said. “I think we should have the whole week off but especially the day before because everyone’s family is coming in to visit.”
Health science professor, Selena Nguyen-Rodriguez, said that the extra scheduled day makes it difficult for faculty and students alike.
“It’s a bummer as an instructor to have a class of three students because everyone else is out traveling,” Nguyen-Rodriguez said.
Jaynee Mathis contributed to this report.
