When Hugh Strother learned in August 2024 that Temple University's marching band would be among the 11 playing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Thursday, he was disappointed. As a senior marketing major hoping to graduate in May 2025, he would just miss fulfilling a childhood dream.

So Strother, who plays trombone and grew up watching the parade with his family, decided to stay an extra semester. MORE: When FDR moved Thanksgiving to an earlier date in 1939, he killed a Philly holiday tradition

"I kept thinking about it and I'm like, 'Well, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I don't really mind going in just a little bit more debt about that,'" Strother said. "I realized my time isn't done yet. I really feel like this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to stay he

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