Before you leave Tallahassee, it might have crossed your mind to do a Friendsgiving. It is also a perfect time to plan out a Secret Santa with your friend group before everyone heads home for Thanksgiving. If you are like me, you live in the dorms and don’t have easy access to a kitchen or your Thanksgiving favorites.
One suggestion is to get food from around campus and make it a potluck dinner. For example, one of your friends can grab Mac and Cheese from Panera or the Mac Shack, and you can grab nachos from Vato Tacos. Some other suggestions are chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a, and you can always grab some food from Suwannee or Seminole Cafe. You might be even more adventurous and try to make instant potatoes and steam some corn. Buying pie-flavored ice cream will be a great dessert idea. Turkey or ham sandwiches are a fun way to include the main item in your Dormsgiving.
Even though the weather has been a bit chilly, you can always sit out on Landis with a blanket. It might be a great way to meet other people who are walking on campus. Maybe you can play A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving on your laptop. You can also make it a game night by playing Cards Against Humanity or some other board games. Also, you can take adorable photos if your friends all dress in cute sweaters on the picnic blanket. If you have friends who are not on campus, you can always FaceTime or Zoom. Some other fun creative ideas would be to make fake leaves out of paper and burn a fall-scented candle to get in the mood.
When you are swamped with work, it will be a great way to spend time hanging out with your friends and destress from the seemingly hundreds of assignments. One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is to go around and say what we are thankful for. Also, this might be the first time in your life that you spend more time with your friends than your family. These friends become your family as you spend your time laughing and trying to find a parking spot in Traditions.
Also, many people will not have the opportunity to go home during this holiday. Florida State University’s (FSU) Food for Thought pantry hosted a competition against the University of Florida (UF) called the “Beat Hunger, Beat UF” drive. The competition started on Nov. 11 and concluded on Nov. 22. It was a great way to give back to your FSU community and have a friendly competition with UF students, so get involved next year! Thanksgiving today should be about evaluating what you are grateful for and finding ways to give back to the community. You can also donate to a food bank in your hometown.
These are just some fun suggestions to celebrate the holiday with your friends, but you don’t need all of this food to call it a Friendsgiving. The most important thing is spending time with people you love and thanking all of the people that make an impact on your life. But you might as well get some cute photos out of the meal.
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