With a growing number of out-of-state students enrolled at the University of Mississippi, many are planning to spend Thanksgiving in Oxford.
Josie Steiny, a sophomore real estate and marketing major, is not going home this year for Thanksgiving break due to the travel costs and the long distance. Steiny is originally from Monterey Bay, Calif. Returning would take a full day of travel including a flight from Memphis to Dallas, a flight from Dallas to San Francisco and a three-hour drive to her hometown.
“I decided not to go home for Thanksgiving this year because tickets home are like $900,” Steiny said. “Because there is so little time in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, my family decided there is just almost no point, especially because my brother lives in Hawaii, so he can’t come home either.”
Steiny will instead be spending Thanksgiving day with a family she met on her flight back to Jackson, Miss., during last year’s holiday break.
Steiny said that spending time in Oxford when many students have left can be a special experience because it allows her to enjoy the town without its typical hustle and bustle. She said that although the distance is difficult at times, it makes her appreciate the time she does get to spend with her family.
“Living so far makes going home more special for me,” Steiny said. “I feel like if I lived closer or went somewhere in California, I wouldn’t have immersed myself in the college experience and taken advantage of everything a college has to offer as much as I have here. I’ve grown to realize how much I love weekends in Oxford when there is no football; it’s quiet and fun, and I just love it here.”
Many out-of-state students shared Steiny’s sentiments. As of 2023-2024, 10,171 UM students were from out-of-state, comprising 54.88% of the undergraduate class, according to the university enrollment website.
Madison Hartman, a freshman integrated marketing communications major from Cape Cod, Mass., will spend her first Thanksgiving in college in Oxford to avoid a 21 hour drive home.
“I came here a week before my move-in this year, and it was actually nice when the campus was really quiet. You can go on walks, and there’s just no one really around,” Hartman said. “I’m so used to busy gamedays and the town being so busy. When everyone leaves, there is sort of a nice silence on campus for a little bit.”
Hartman said she will spend a day in Memphis during the break and return for the Egg Bowl on Nov. 29. She has decided to stay with a family member that lives in Oxford rather than trying to get special permission to stay in her residence hall.
“I think you can get some sort of form to fill out to stay in the dorms over the breaks, but most people leave anyway,” Hartman said. “I do have an older cousin who goes here, so I’m going to stay with her.”
Although she will enjoy aspects of staying here, Hartman said she would miss the rest of her family.
“It’s fine to stay here and do something new, but I’d love to go home,” Hartman said. “I’m not going to be able to go home until mid-December now.”
Hartman said that seeing her family celebrate on social media would be a difficult aspect of staying.
“It can be hard not getting to be there in my hometown sometimes,” Hartman said. “I have been looking at my Snapchat memories from last year. … I think about how all of my friends from home will be there. So it will be a little hard to watch that on social media. I feel like social media is such a big thing now to see everyone visiting and realizing that I’m still here.”
Santino Rocchio, a senior accounting major from San Francisco, said that it is difficult being away from hometown friends.
“I definitely see my high school friend group chats start getting active during the break, and it’s hard because I know unfortunately I can’t be there, but I try to make the most of it while I’m here in Oxford,” Rocchio said.
This will be Rocchio’s second time spending Thanksgiving in Oxford.
“On actual Thanksgiving, I will probably go eat at a restaurant on the Square,” Rocchio said. “Maybe we can play some pickleball or walk around some of the old neighborhoods. It’s just so quiet here during Thanksgiving. It honestly feels like a ghost town. These past few football weekends, we are used to not being able to get reservations, waiting in long lines everywhere and losing cell service, but during Thanksgiving, it’s quiet and peaceful.”
Rocchio said that it can be difficult for freshmen to navigate Thanksgiving break, given that it is their first time being on their own for the holidays.
“I actually had a funny moment my freshman year,” Rocchio said. “It was hard to find flights, so I had to come back a day early. But, the dorms were still closed, so I ended up spending a night on the couch of my fraternity house when I was waiting to move back in. So that was pretty funny because I was basically homeless for a day until the dorms opened back up again.”
Some special programs on the UM campus, including the Center for Manufacturing Excellence, aim to help students, especially freshman, who have not found alternate plans for their break.
Casey Stuart, associate director for academic programs in the Center for Manufacturing Excellence, explained how many professors invite these long distance students to attend their own family Thanksgiving celebrations.
“We do have a wonderful CME family, and several of our faculty members welcome our students into their homes for Thanksgiving,” Stuart said.
