Dayra Gonzalez 
Draya Rios/THE RIDER
With Thanksgiving around the corner, students reflect on the traditions that bring them together each year.
For Daisy Guillen, an education senior, the holiday has always been an intimate celebration focused on family.
Her household blends traditional American dishes with Mexican favorites, including tamales, menudo and a dessert her family calls “postre de bombones.”
“It’s special because … this is how we’re passing down through generations something that is meaningful to us,” Guillen said.
She added preparing food alongside her mother is often the highlight of her day.
Visual communications sophomore Adriana Esparza said her family’s celebrations tend to vary from year to year. Although they typically eat traditional Thanksgiving foods, she recalled having “pizza one time.”
Esparza said her favorite part is seeing relatives.
“I get to see my family … the ones that I don’t [see] usually come up to down here,” she said.
Gratitude, Esparza said, means “appreciating what you have.”
For students who grew up outside the U.S., Thanksgiving carries a different meaning.
Sarah Paola Sanchez Diaz, an English junior, said she first encountered the holiday after coming from Mexico and described her initial impression as “like a little Christmas.”
Sanchez Diaz said her family began celebrating it after the COVID-19 pandemic, adapting the tradition to their own customs with dishes such as rollo de carne, or brisket, instead of turkey.
“We just say thanks … and we just have a good time,” she said, explaining what matters most is gathering as a family.
The three students said they would like the university to host more Thanksgiving-related events on campus. Guillen added some students are not aware of events due to not enough advertising.
“I’ve never seen anything here,” Sanchez Diaz said. “Brownsville campus deserves … having its own events.”
Ahead of the break, UTRGV’s International Student Services office hosted its Thanksgiving Luncheon Thursday in the Dining & Ballroom Complex on the Edinburg campus. The annual event offered international students a traditional meal and a space to connect and share gratitude.
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