Thanksgiving Break begins on Wednesday (though anyone who actually has class tomorrow is extremely unfortunate), which means that we get to go home for what is little more than a glorified long-weekend, only to return to Penn on November 30 for an awkward single week of class before Reading Days begin.

But Thanksgiving Break is certainly a welcome vacation from studying (and, believe it or not, from partying too), as well as a chance to gorge yourself on turkey and spend time with your friends and family.

Not to sound like those emails you get from the Deans in the Quad reminding you to unplug your refrigerator before you leave for break, but as your resident OxfordComma I do feel it’s my duty to remind you of some annoying crap you should do before you go home, like putting the heat slash A/C on a comfortable temperature before you leave the room (unless you’d like to return to a sauna or a freezer, respectively).

Also, I think it’s important for everyone to be a little green and unplug all their stuff, like printers, lamps, etc. I know it will be a minor pain in the ass to re-plug your alarm clock and iPod speakers upon returning back to school, but it’s worth it – electronics use up energy just by being plugged in.

Definitely take out your garbage, because that’s just plain unsanitary, and consider tidying up a bit. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure why I always think it’s important to clean my room before I leave for breaks (if anything it should be okay to leave the room dirty because no one is there, right?), but somehow I just feel like I should. Go figure.

If anyone has any other fun tips to add, feel free – and have great vacations!