🍗 Lots To Be Thankful For... 12/1/25

Hello Everyone!

This is the face of a man who has lost one of his shoes on the airplane. I fell asleep with my shoes on, and when I woke up, I only had one shoe. I don’t really know how it happened, but for the remainder of the flight, I was in a panic. Thankfully, I found it in the row behind us as we were deplaning, but imagine if I had to spend the week shoeless.

Anyway, let’s find out What’s Up With Will…

For my fall break, we flew back to Auburn to spend Thanksgiving week with my family. All my teachers the previous week told us to use the break to rest and relax, but I unfortunately don’t know how. Here’s what we got up to…

Shortly after both Daniel and I moved far away from home, my parents have gotten into Pickleball. They have been telling me how much they enjoy playing, so I figured that it would be fun to try out while we were there. It was surprising how easy Pickleball was to pick up. We might not have been pros, but by the end of a game or two, we were able to volley it back and forth. Rylee and I put on our best game face, but our dinking skills were no match against my parents. And while we didn’t win, I did catch the Pickleball fever. One quick Google search showed a ton of Pickleball courts back in California.

The first real outing was to tour the Kia Georgia production facility, located in West Point, Georgia. The plant, established to meet the growing demand of American consumers in 2009, produces 350000 cars per year. If you break that down per operating hours, it means that a new car comes off the line every 51 seconds. Something cool about this plant in particular is that it is the sole producer of KIA Tellurides in world, so if you ever see one of these cars, you will know that it was produced in West Point.

On the tour we got to drive through the stamping, welding, and assembly lines, watching the advanced robotics and manufacturing techniques used to ensure vehicle quality. Regardless of whether or not you’re a nuts and bolts type of guy/gal, I think it’s fascinating to see how raw materials are turned into something as complex as a car.

We visited the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee, Alabama, home to the training grounds of the Tuskegee Airmen. This historic site is located on Moton Field, where nearly 1,000 African American pilots were trained. The site discusses the Tuskegee Airmen pivotal role in World War II, completing over 1,500 missions and earning a reputation for their skill. They destroyed 112 enemy aircraft, escorted Allied bombers through hostile skies, and carried out missions ranging from ground attacks to air-sea rescue. The Tuskegee Airmen’s achievements abroad helped pave the way for the desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces with Executive Order 9981 in 1948, and also influenced the broader Civil Rights Movement.

Before we drove back to Auburn, we stopped for a bite to eat. We walked up to an unassuming joint called Tiger Bites, which seemed to specialize in all things fried food. I got the catfish plate at the recommendation from Rylee, as she grew up eating fried catfish all the time. It was extra crispy, greasy, and everything I could ever hope for in a fried fish plate. She even stated that she was very jealous of my order, which is a big compliment to the food.

In spite of running around all week, Thanksgiving itself was relatively calm. Daniel and Hannah came in late Wednesday night, so we all took it easy, foregoing the hustle of cooking a Thanksgiving feast, and just going out to The Sun Dial Restaurant, which took you up 73 floors to a stunning view of the Atlanta skyline. For the meal itself, I went with the apple-cider-brined turkey, complete with stuffing, green beans, cranberries, and gravy. There’s really only one time a year when you’re obligated to eat turkey, and I wasn’t about to break tradition. Thankfully, I didn’t, because this turkey was delicious, and not dry at all!

I am always happy to spend time being around family. I was just thankful that we all managed to get together again. It felt like forever since we last saw everyone (even if it actually hadn’t been that long). Even though we are spread across the US, we all prioritize seeing each other, which I am extremely grateful for.

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate is the name given to, in my opinion, one of the greatest college football rivalries between Georgia Tech and u[sic]ga. This rivalry goes back all the way to Nov. 4, 1893, when GT won 28-6, and has been going strong ever since.

This fateful day came around once again. Friday, November 28th, 2025, would be the 119th edition of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate, but this time it was in Mercedes-Benz Stadium. We donned our best GT gear, armed ourselves with the best u[sic]ga jokes we could find, and marched over to the Benz ready for battle. This would be the first time that her and I have been to a GT game with my parents since I first started Tech, so we showed them how to do gameday right.

Overall, it was a lackluster game with a final score of Georgia 16 - Georgia Tech 9. There were a lot of field goals, but only one touchdown was scored. That being said, if we can go mostly toe to toe with the number 3 team in the nation, that speaks wonders for us and poorly for u[sic]ga.

Now with Fall Break at its end, its time to hunker down to finish this semester strong. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving week!

This is the video we watched on how to play Pickleball, just in case anyone wanted to join us out on the court at some point in the future...