This Thanksgiving was the first I've ever spent away from my home and family. Part of the job of Resident Advisor requires half of us to remain on campus for Thanksgiving and Mardi Gras while the other half stays for Spring and Easter Break. I chose Thanksgiving, thinking I could go back to Russia with the longer springtime break and hence, I'm here.
I thought at first that my Thanksgiving was going to be very lonely. I was worried that without my friends here, I'd really have no place to go. I was invited to friends' houses off campus but because of desk shifts and duty, it was much more convenient to just stay on campus. As part of our programming duties, some of the RAs had decided to have a dinner for ourselves and all of our residents that were staying for the week and we would each contribute a different dish.
I didn't really understand how much time this would take until we actually started shopping and cooking. Three Winn Dixie and one Walmart trip and four hours later, I realized how long I'd spent with my fellow RAs and how much I had enjoyed their company. We spent so much time giggling and laughing over little things as we prepared for our feast.
We ended up having an awesome day together. The guys you see in the pictures- David, an RA in upperclassmen Aron Apartments, Corrina, an RA in Modular Housing, Jenny, also an RA in Aron, and I spent time on Thanksgiving cooking, going to a Housing and Res Life party, and finally, just hanging out.We ended the night at Corrina's place, where she made us excellent soy milk chocolate espressos. We spent hours chatting, sharing pictures of our families, and discussing books we all wanted to read and borrow from Corrina, an English major with a diverse collection of literature. After that David had a shift at the desk and we all trooped in after him to watch a movie, even though the desk might not have the same comforts as someone's room. The point was we were a band for this one day and we all flowed wherever one of our members wanted to go.
George Burns once said, "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."
All I can say is it was a happy Thanksgiving for me after all.
