As we currently experience an upward trend of new COVID-19 cases, NECC students begin to prepare accordingly with the Mass.gov Safety Guidelines for their Thanksgiving celebrations.

We spoke with NECC students on how their plans have changed for Thanksgiving and if it has affected whether their excitement for the holiday has been greatly altered due to the new set of guidelines in place.

Nisaly Gonzalez, a 22-year-old North Andover resident and fulltime NECC student, typically spends Thanksgiving with a large gathering of family and friends. When asked how COVID-19 is affecting her Thanksgiving plans she had this to say, “Corona has affected my plans by limiting our family gathering to just my parents and my sister.”

Gonzalez also stated that the limitations on their gathering has not diminished the Gonzalez family’s excitement.

Next, we spoke with Robert Smith, a second semester NECC student who typically spends his Thanksgiving with a quaint family gathering at his grandmother’s house.

When asked about his plans for this year, Smith responded, “My Thanksgiving plans this year are to get one of those turkey dinners through the supermarket. It will be the same food, but with less people at my house. I will still call my grandmother and aunt to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving.”

Smith also said he would watch former Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade’s on YouTube to supplement his yearly viewing.

In our final interview we talked to Caitlyn Baker, a 20-year-old NECC transfer student who is usually either working for extra pay on Thanksgiving or at home. When asked whether her plans were changed due to COVID-19, Baker answered back with, “My plans are not going to be changed due to having such a small family.”

Baker had also stated that “I enjoy Thanksgiving, it’s time off from school, extra pay, and time with my actual immediate family, which is hard to find especially since my parents have owned their own business together for 23 years.”

After talking with NECC students and affiliates I realized that people’s plans may have changed, but it does not seem to have subtracted from the excitement for the holiday.

I also noticed that if there was a major change in somebody’s plans, they learned to adapt to the situation at hand and remain excited for Thanksgiving.

Have a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!

For more information about the Massachusetts guidelines, visit:

Mass.gov Thanksgiving during COVID-19: https://www.mass.gov/news/thanksgiving-during-covid-19