It’s the fall season, which just so happens to be my favorite time of year, and also the time for Friendsgiving! As a college student, I feel like this holiday has even more meaning and sentimental value for me. I spend months with my friends on campus away from home, and when the holidays roll around, we all split up to return to our homes in locations scattered around the country. Thanksgiving is not just about family, but it also includes the friends and community we build away from home. This is why I think that as a college student, Friendsgiving is such a meaningful way to still be able to spend the holidays with the home away from home that you built for yourself at school.
Friendsgiving is a great opportunity to step away from dining hall food and cook for the people you care about. I love doing a big potluck because it cuts down the preparation cost and time per person and allows everybody to bring a dish that they love. You don’t have to make anything fancy; it just has to taste good.
As a senior, these are some of the last few months that I get to spend with the friend group I built for myself at FSU, and it feels sentimental to get to sit down and share a big meal with all the people who have helped me get through my time here and make it memorable. If you’re a freshman, Friendsgiving is also a way to get different friend groups you’ve made together and introduce them over a delicious meal.
Also, don’t discount Friendsgiving just because you live in a dorm! There are so many recipes and suggestions online for how to host Friendsgiving in a dorm room.
Friendsgiving also lets you get to know more about your friends and have them share a dish that means something to them or that they love. I have so many friends from different cultures, and it’s always so fun to see the foods that people decide to bring and that are staples on their Thanksgiving tables. People bring cultural dishes that they have grown up eating over the holidays, and you get to try all these amazing new foods you might not have had the opportunity to try otherwise. Coming from a Russian family, there are a lot of foods that I associate with Thanksgiving that most people probably haven’t heard of or tried, and I love getting to share that part of myself with my friends. I think food is a great way to bring people together, and there is so much love that goes into cooking and preparing food for the people close to you.
Friendsgiving is a holiday that you can have a lot of fun with and really make your own. It can be super cool to have a theme for the event or have people not only bring a dish but also a signature drink that they want everyone to try. Friendsgiving is all about creating and incorporating your own traditions and being around good vibes and good people. My friends are some of the most important people in my life, and they make my life more enjoyable. Not seeing them over the holiday season can be hard, so Friendsgiving is a way to make sure that they are included in my life and in moments of celebration.
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