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roasted chicken on a wooden table with sides and place settings
roasted chicken on a wooden table with sides and place settings
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6 Tips for Spending Thanksgiving Away from Home

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Brea Simons
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Essence Patterson
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Howard chapter.

Thanksgiving is always a tough time for students who are far away from home. Being that the university gives us only a weekend to celebrate the holiday, many students opt to stay on campus or spend the holiday with a friend for financial reasons. Here are some tips to make sure that you spend your holiday well. 

1. Connect with someone who lives closer to campus

Find a friend who lives closer to campus, and ask to spend the holiday with them. Get the pride out of your soul and just ask! Believe it or not, most families love when their child brings a friend home for thanksgiving. Who knows, it may be fun road trip for you and your friend, besides nothing beats a home cooked meal.

2. Find things to do around DC

There are often many shows to go see thanksgiving weekend. Many people aren’t buying tickets around this time, so you may be able to get one for a good price. If not, tour the monuments, hit the museums and take some pictures, watch holiday light shows along the Potomac. Normally from Nov. 27 – Jan. 1 from 5 P.M. to 9 P.M. the Zoo is free, so check out the holiday displays.  

3.  Give Back

Find a shelter, food bank or thanksgiving event and volunteer.

4. Relax

 

If you’re not really big on the holiday, get yourself some sleep! With many students gone for the weekend this is the perfect time for you to catch up on some much needed sleep, and handle some responsibilities (chores, laundry) that you let slip over the last few weeks.  

5. Campus-Giving

 

Check to see if your campus has some type of thanksgiving dinner planned. Most campus’ deck out the cafe for the holiday season, and the cuisine may even be better than normal. Also check with different organizations on campus, including your state club, to see if they are holding a thanksgiving event such as a potluck.

Are some of your friends staying on campus for the thanksgiving season? Have a potluck, game night, maybe even watch some movies to spend time giving thanks for the friends you have! 

See, spending thanksgiving away from home doesn’t have to be bad, it can possibly become one of your best memories!

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Brea Simons is a Junior, at Howard University. She is a Public Relations Major, Graphic Design Minor hailing from Queens, NY. In the future, Brea hopes to go to law school and practice intellectual property law as well as open her own brand management firm. Community Service is very important to Brea, and she volunteers very often in the DC area. She loves music, black excellence, and learning new things. "The light always shows on the outside if you are striving to be good inside." - Erykah Badu.
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Essence Patterson is a sophomore at Howard University. She is a political science major from Detroit, Michigan. Essence is an avid tennis player; she enjoys reading, music, and exploring the DMV area. Community service is very important to Essence. In the future she wants to practice law in the educational policy field. She aspires to one day open a non-profit organization targeted toward education for low income children. Integrity, compassion, courage, and innovation are the biggest virtues that Essence lives by.