Thanksgiving occurs next week on Nov. 26. It’s usually a time for lots of food and quality time spent with family. And that fundamental idea doesn’t need to change during this pandemic.

It is finally time for Thanksgiving break. Despite the pandemic, the University of Connecticut managed to stay functioning with in-person classes until now. We did it.

Earlier this week, companies Pfizer and BioNTech announced that the preliminary results of their COVID-19 vaccine trials suggest the vaccine was about 90% effective. Although these are only preliminary tests and nothing is official yet, these results are groundbreaking. So far, there have been no known negative effects of the vaccine, which is a very good sign.

From a distance, the idea of learning online, from the comfort of your bed or couch, seems relatively pleasant and easygoing, but we all know it is actually quite difficult.

When we were all sent home last March because of COVID-19, there was suddenly not much to do. However, with classes online, extracurriculars cancelled and friends trapped in their own homes, there was one activity that pretty much everyone could still do: sleep. And with that sleep came weird dreams. At first, I thought I was the only person experiencing so many strangely vivid and memorable dreams, but then I started hearing the same from friends and family. Now, preliminary data collected from the start of the pandemic is revealing that COVID-19 has indeed had a global effect on dreaming.

Since the pandemic's onset, the web has been flooded with videos of arguments between 'mask wearers' and 'non-mask wearers.' Though aggression does not lead to a solution, the anger of some can be justified. Knowing the dangers of COVID-19, it can be frustrating when individuals refuse to wear a mask. Even more so, since not wearing a mask puts more than the individual in harm's way. As COVID-19 cases rise again and we approach 'flu season,' it is important to remember why we need masks and how much they genuinely help.

Our college lives are only a small percentage of what they used to be. With the advent of a global pandemic, people were asked to stay inside in hopes of decreasing the spread of the virus and limiting the number of people admitted to the hospital. With the growing number of positive results came a growing number of people suffering with anxiety.

College looks a bit different now from what it used to be. The continuing spread of the novel coronavirus has forced the University of Connecticut to offer courses in a range of modalities, which in the least has provided us with new applications of words like “split” and “hybrid” and has left most of us glued to our computer screens for much of the day.

In the fall, when school was about to start up again, there were still a lot of things that were uncertain. What would happen if COVID-19 broke out in a dorm, or more than one dorm? How would professors change classes traditionally taught in classrooms and lecture halls into things that could be taught over the internet, in Zoom calls and PowerPoints and tests? What safety measures were in place to try and limit the spread of the COVID-19?

With Election Day exactly two weeks away, it is high time for people to begin planning for it. It is pertinent that people register to vote and make plans regarding how they will vote now. Voting early through an absentee ballot is a very good option this year and it is important that students at the University of Connecticut take advantage of this opportunity.