The holidays are around the corner, but the three-week period between Thanksgiving break, final exam week and winter break is preventing some students from getting into the holiday spirit.

Last academic year, the mid-week schedule for final exams caused some discontent among students. This year, the University’s final exam schedule will take up a full week, starting on Monday, Dec. 8, and ending Friday, Dec. 12. 

According to Adam Lee, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and chair of the calendar committee, the University returned to its regular final exam scheduling for this fall semester.

“Having finals as a contiguous week is our standard practice,” Lee said. “The mechanics of how dates fell this year allowed us to return to that practice.”

Carys Thompson, a sophomore public policy major, recalls the stress of last year’s final exam schedule.

“[Last year’s exam schedule] was not fun,” Thompson said. “I did not [enjoy] that.”

Although final exams take up a full week, some students are frustrated with the schedule between Thanksgiving break and finals, which has one week of regular class sessions in between. Thanksgiving break takes place from Nov. 22 to Nov. 30, and finals start Monday, Dec. 8. 

Briella Greczyn, a first-year communications major, noted how the closeness between Thanksgiving and finals week will affect her upcoming holiday break.

“[The proximity between Thanksgiving break and finals week] adds so much more stress on students,” Greczyn said. “Being at home, studying will be a lot different. I want to see my friends and my family and still be able to spend time with them but also spend time on my assignments because it’s the final stretch.”

Ryan Welsh, a senior marketing and supply chain management major, said his Thanksgiving will be affected by early exams.

“I have no finals on finals week,” Welsh said. “All my exams are the final week of classes. I’m basically just going home to study.”

For some students, including Mia Stoudt, a first-year biological sciences major, regular exams are taking place during the week between Thanksgiving and finals. 

“I have a midterm the week before finals,” Stoudt said. “I have to focus on that midterm before I can even think about studying for finals. That being so close is stressing me out.”

Winter break begins on Dec. 14, giving students a two-week period on campus before they have to go back home. Welsh, who lives over four hours away from campus, said the amount of travelling in such a short time span will affect his studying.

“[Travelling] is inconvenient,” Welsh said. “To come back [to campus] for a week to do exams, it’s not my favorite. I’m probably going to lose productivity — studying back home compared to staying on campus — but I don’t want to stay on campus during Thanksgiving.”

For some students, including Jackson Heinefield, a first-year statistics and biology major, the continuous traveling has caused disagreements among his family.

“I live in Texas. [Flying back and forth] was a point of contention in my family,” Heinefield said. “My dad didn’t want to fly me for Thanksgiving back home because it’s only a two-week gap [between returning from Thanksgiving and the start of winter break]. That was a pretty big argument both of my parents had with each other.”

Greczyn, who lives in New York, also said travelling is stressful for her and her parents during the holiday season.

“My parents are like, ‘We can come down to get you,’ but it’s a hassle on their part around the holiday season, traffic — everything adds up,” Greczyn said. “It’s stressful to think about my assignments and how I’m getting home.”

The government shutdown, which ended on Nov. 12, resulted in many flight cancellations across the country. Attempts to get airfare tickets during the shutdown added to the stress of traveling for students, according to Thompson.

“With the government shutdown, it’s really busy and hard to [get a plane ticket] — adding a flight time, having to mentally prepare what I have to organize,” Thompson said. “There’s no breathing room.”

Some students, including KJ Karaisz, a first-year psychology and philosophy major, are upset over how late in the semester they’re able to go home. Karaisz believes a week-long fall break and a shorter Thanksgiving break would give students the opportunity to focus on family more than exams.

Other U.S. colleges, including Carnegie Mellon University, have a week-long fall break in October and a shortened Thanksgiving break, from Wednesday Nov. 26, to Sunday, Nov. 30. Pitt’s fall break was only three days long, from Oct. 10 to Oct. 12.

“Technically, ‘fall break’ — with air quotes — is a reason to go home, but not [for Pitt students],” Karaisz said. “It’s a really long time in the fall being here before you can finally go home for an extended period of time. The way CMU does it — I would like that a lot more.”

Although many students are frustrated with the closeness between Thanksgiving break, final exam week and winter break, they aren’t sure what the University could have scheduled differently within the three-week period.

“Thanksgiving and Christmas are just so close,” Greczyn said. “I can see how it can be really difficult to make the finals schedule and figure out how to make everybody be content with it.”