College students face the pressure of perception but gratitude can help remedy that

Each fall, millions of American families send their sons and daughters off to college with a mixture of pride and concern. They hope their students will grow in maturity, sharpen their minds, and step into their phones with confidence. But more often than not, what comes home at Thanksgiving isn’t just a tired student. It’s a changed thing.

This is a silent tragedy playing out on campuses across the country. While parents are waiting for education, many universities are redecorating education. The classroom, once an honest testing ground, has become a platform for ideas. In my new book, “College Without Communism,” I make the case that higher education has moved away from authentically building students and shaping them in accordance with cultural norms.

These changes rarely happen all at once. It is slow, subtle and often invisible to those who live within it. Students are baptized in places that question the faith, emphasize morals and restore confidence in relativism. They are encouraged to reverse everything, except the worldview of the Center itself.

But here is hope. Tradition never gets the last word. Thanksgiving Break offers something precious and increasingly rare in the academic calendar: Time. Time to think, reconnect.

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Thanksgiving is not just a pause at Mester. It is a sacred opportunity. It brings students back to the people they knew before the pressure to conform. It opens the door to true telling, spiritual manifestation, and restoration of identity. In a world that tries to blur lines and erase roots, this holiday can remind students of who they are.

This is not just about political twift. It is about spiritual foundations. Many students leave college with a healthy faith, but return home unsure of who God is, what is right or why it is true. And it doesn’t take long. Sometimes, it only takes one semester.

That’s why families can treat Thanksgiving as just a time off. It’s time to re-engage. Don’t settle for small talk around the table. Ask real questions. Invite open discussion. Communicate life and identity to your student with love and clarity. Remind them that their value is not defined by grades, popularity or cultural approval, but by being made in the image of God.

Pray with them. Share your beliefs. Discuss how your faith has been tested and strengthened. And if they come home to ask, doubt or argue about big ideas, don’t close the door. Open wide. Listen patiently. Answer kindly. Then point them back to unchanging truth.

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Today’s students do not have as much faith as the articles suggest. Many are quietly searching for something solid in a culture that feels unstable. They have a desire for clarity, communication and courage. Families and churches can meet that need, if we are willing to talk and stay close.

At Southeast University, we work every day to equip students not just with knowledge, but with wisdom. We want them to think critically without being consumed by ideas. We want them to share cultures without losing their soul. And we know that nothing happens without families, churches and mentors dedicated to building up everyone.

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Thanksgiving is more than a holiday. It is a spiritual reset. It moves us with gratitude. Suspect again about our story. And for students to be invested in every way, it may be a way of life that takes them back to what they were meant to be.

This generation does not need to be saved from college. It needs to focus on reality. So, this Thanksgiving, let’s do more than gather around the table. Let’s remind our students who they are, who they are and why they still matter.

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