Chances are, you and the friends you make in college aren’t going to be from the same place. This means that even though it can be great to go home for the holidays, you have to celebrate with your friends at school. If you’re living in an apartment or house, the idea of planning a Friendsgiving sounds fun and completely doable, but dorm life has its limitations. Here’s how to get the most out of having Friendsgiving while living in the dorms.
Food
Even though dorm rooms are equipped with a microwave and mini-fridge, most dorm buildings have a communal kitchen for students to use. After a quick trip to your nearest grocery store, this would be the perfect place to cook your Friendsgiving feast (or just instant mashed potatoes and box mix corn bread). Even if what you make isn’t necessarily as good as what your grandma makes, cooking with your friends is still a fun experience.
If your dorm doesn’t have a kitchen or, depending on who’s in your friend group, you don’t want to risk burning your building down, there are other meals that you can make without additional kitchen supplies. Charcuterie boards are an easy yet creative and cute option. You can also always buy dishes that are premade. Last year, one of my friends bought a pumpkin pie from Neil Marketplace with his dining dollars.
Drinks
If you are living in the dorms, you are most likely not 21 yet. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t still have fun drinks for Friendsgiving. Food Fanatic provides a list of Thanksgiving themed mocktails. In pairs, you can each pick a mocktail to make, have all of your friends try them and then vote on a winner. There are plastic cocktail cups on Amazon for just $5, and if each group is only buying supplies for their drink, it can be a pretty inexpensive competition.
Activities
In my family, the best time to plan for Christmas is at Thanksgiving. It’s when we decide who is bringing what, when we are getting together and what kind of gift exchange we are going to do. While you are at your Friendsgiving celebration, it would be the perfect time to draw names for your Secret Santa (if you plan to do one). Everyone will be in the same place at the same time, so it will be easy to draw names from a hat then, especially since you would have to celebrate Christmas early due to winter break.
Another activity that would be fun during Friendsgiving would be to anonymously write down one thing from the past semester that you are thankful for and put them all in a pile. Then, everyone will take turns picking one of the cards and the group has to guess who wrote it. It’s a fun way to reminisce on the semester and talk about memorable moments with your friends.
A staple activity while living in the dorms for Friendsgiving is card games and board games. In our dorm, we have always played Cards Against Humanity, For The Girls and Uno. If no one has games on hand, a lot of dorm buildings provide board games to residents if they ask the front desk. Even though this isn’t an extravagant activity, it is still entertaining if you’re playing with your best friends.
The holidays are meant to be spent with the people you love, so don’t let the limitations of living in the dorms prevent you from celebrating!