Thanksgiving is usually a cherished day, filled with family and loved ones but as soon as the clock strikes 12:00 am, many leave the Thanksgiving scene to shop for Black Friday. This year, Tampa residents will most likely be headed to the Tampa Premium Outlets for guaranteed, quality Black Friday deals and specials.

Becca Bible, 11, is an employee at Tommy Hilfiger at the Tampa Premium Outlets and will be working for the event. “Tommy Hilfiger is usually busy as it is but on Black Friday I expect it to be very hectic and a bit stressful but I’m sure it’ll be worth it and hopefully it will spread Christmas cheer!” said Bible.

Although this new outlet mall is close by, it is not the only outlet mall to choose from. Some prefer to drive to Ellenton Outlets  for a different variety of high-end stores.

“I go to Ellenton outlets every year for Black Friday and I always make sure to hit up Kate Spade and Nike,” said Senior Claire Snell.

Wiregrass Mall, Citrus Park Mall, International Mall and Brandon Mall are also students’ favorites and are sure to be busy on Black Friday as well.

“I usually leave my Thanksgiving parties at night to head to the mall with my cousins,” said Senior Elizabeth Cheung. “I usually go to one mall at night and then sleep a little and head to other malls during the day.”

Aside from mall shopping, most retail stores will be participating in the “holiday.” Prepared shoppers can be seen camping outside of stores like Best Buy days before Black Friday to ensure that they will be able to buy the items they want before they are sold out. While many believe that this Black Friday camping is a myth, Freedom’s own students participate in the shopping madness.

“I love going to Best Buy on Black Friday and shopping for electronics. I camp out about four or five hours before to wait in line,” said Senior Maya Patel. “I’ve done this for the last four years and this year, I have my eye on a laptop.”

While Black Friday is enjoyable for the majority of shoppers due to the amazing sales and specials, retail workers would disagree. Working in retail during Black Friday is an employee’s worst nightmare and takes away from their own shopping time.

“I used to work for a sporting goods company and it was outrageous on Black Friday,” said Mr. Nolan. “The time went by so fast that I didn’t even know when I started and when I stopped. It was head-down work, hours on a register, and one person after another. It was non-stop and seemed endless. I was tired and exhausted and probably worked fifteen hours.”

Luckily for these employees, many Black Friday shoppers prefer to shop online during “Cyber Monday,” which has all the deals of Black Friday on online shopping sites the Monday after Thanksgiving.

“I find Black Friday shopping sort of hectic,” said Freshman Cathryn Boga, “I usually just wait for Cyber Monday to come around so I can order all the stuff I want and have it shipped to be in the comfort of my own home. I save so much time waiting in lines and trying on clothes and there is usually free shipping. Cyber Monday allows me to fully recover from an eventful Thanksgiving!”