Setting up plans for the holidays may prompt some awkward conversations among families this year. With the COVID-19 pandemic underway, students are now deciding how they will be getting together for this Thanksgiving season.
Anne Blake-Nickels is a senior double majoring in psychology and sociology. In addition to hosting holiday gatherings, she visits her mother-in-law for Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, both these plans are likely to be canceled this year. Like many VanCougs, most of her concerns revolve around putting her older and immunocompromised family members at risk of exposure.
“Thanksgiving has pretty much been canceled. And I don’t really see that Christmas is going to happen either. … My mother-in-law is older and there would just be too many people. It’s too much of a risk,” Blake-Nickels said.
(David Priymak / The VanCougar)
For most students, planning to meet with extended family this year is not worth the risk. Jacob Boucher, a sophomore majoring in psychology, and the current Associated Students of WSU Vancouver’s senate chair pro-tempore will be staying home and calling loved ones this year. He encourages others to not travel this holiday season so that more people are alive and healthy for future gatherings.
“I’ve been concerned about not every family member taking COVID as seriously as they should, and as much as I do. That could kind of lead to awkward family dynamics. … My family’s usually pretty good about that but I feel like the COVID pandemic is especially rife for disagreement,” Boucher said.
While holidays tend to spur dinner table disagreements, some of these annual family tiffs will be sorely missed this year. Sociology Professor Katrina Leupp studies the intersection of gender and families as part of her research and stressed that dealing with the disruption of family gathering norms may be a challenge for some this holiday season.
“What I find really challenging… is not knowing norms. These different social scripts structure interactions, and especially a lot of family interactions, eases those social interactions because everyone kind of knows what to do. And with COVID-19 it’s just disrupted all of those norms,” Leupp said.
As far as plans go, Leupp will not get to see her extended family this Thanksgiving. She was originally planning a gathering much smaller than in years past, but with higher infection rates and new restrictions, she does not want to worry about potential exposures this holiday.
For WSU Vancouver students in which any type of gathering is not plausible, Leupp is extremely worried about the psychological implications the pandemic may impose on others during an already emotionally heavy season.
“I’m most concerned about our students that are especially isolated and economically vulnerable. … The holidays can be really hard for anyone who’s experienced loss and grief and are feeling lonely. … I’m concerned about students who are going to travel and increase COVID… but I’m also really concerned for the mental health and wellbeing for those students who
don’t have a lot of people [in their lives],” Leupp said.
Whether you decide to gather or not this holiday season, make sure to follow key guidelines to reduce your chance of contracting and spreading COVID-19 to your loved ones. Although forgoing the traditional family get-togethers will be hard this season, these restrictions can help reduce the spread of COVID-19 to the extent of defeating the virus for good.
Editor’s Note: If you find yourself feeling isolated this holiday season, visit the WSU Vancouver Health Services to schedule a counseling appointment. For an immediate response, call the Clark County Crisis Line at 360-696-9560.