Welcome to the last week, Drovers! You finally made it to the last two days of classes, make sure to give yourselves a pat on the back. With finals week approaching rapidly, I want to remind everyone to still take a breather and enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with their family, friends, and loved ones. Thanksgiving is a time of reflection and a time to be thankful for all that you have. Once you have pondered that for a minute, then of course dig into the turkey and glorious sides!

While this two-day week is extremely short it is jam-packed with different reminders for you all! First, The Trend is sponsoring a GIVEAWAY! It begins today, November 21st and ends Monday, November 28th. Our goal is to give three lucky winners a special treat going into finals week. We will be giving away three $10 gift cards. Two of the gift cards are to Starbucks and one is to a local coffee shop, Iron Tree. You can enter this giveaway through our Instagram and make sure you follow the guidelines!

Secondly, this Monday we have our last Writer’s Meeting of the trimester! These meetings have spurred a lot of good conversations and even better articles. I look forward to more meetings in the spring. If you are ever curious about The Trend this is the place to be. We moved the final meeting to Monday, instead of our traditional Wednesday, because of Thanksgiving break. The meeting will be held in Nash Library’s Music Pocket at 4 pm. I hope to see you all there!

Finally, this week The Trend has another photo essay from Laura Barrios Bardi. As both soccer seasons have come to a close, Bardi has moved to the basketball courts. Her latest photos essay showcases the skillsets of our Drover basketball teams. Also, on the docket this week, our News Reporting I class has been hard at work writing about Thanksgiving. We will have to keep our eyes out for what they have to say!

A final reminder because this part of the trimester is extremely stressful. Never be afraid to ask for help if you need it. Never be afraid to reach out to people who care about you. Never be afraid to contact the services across campus if you need it. People care about you.

I look forward to hearing from you all again in the spring. Make sure to watch our social medias over the holiday breaks because we have more tricks up our sleeves!

Emily Loughridge is a second-year Communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.