Thanksgiving is a time for spending time with family, reflecting on what we’re grateful for, and eating until we can’t move.

Although this is what we usually think about when someone mentions Thanksgiving, it doesn’t often offer an opportunity for people to bond with their closest friends.

Some Bearden students have solved this dilemma by starting to celebrate Friendsgiving – where students have their own Thanksgiving gatherings in addition to the typical celebration on the day of. 

“People are realizing more that friends are family,” senior Alyssa Lewis said. “More people are realizing how important quality friendships are, and they want to show how they’re thankful for those quality relationships.”

Senior Collin Ironside’s friend group has been doing a Friendsgiving since his freshman year. 

“It gives friends a chance to share why they are thankful for one another, which many people don’t often do,” Ironside said. “It is also just another chance to hang out with my big group of friends and share memories with one another, and it is just really sweet.” 

Friendsgivings usually have a different dynamic than traditional family gatherings, as some people are more comfortable with their close friends than family they may only see a few times a year. 

“It’s a lot more relaxed, and you’re able to share embarrassing stories and not be judged for it,” sophomore Hannah Roberto said. 

Added senior Abby Chakales: “Your friends are…there for you, so Friendsgiving is really like a main Thanksgiving for a lot of people.”

Roberto’s friend group recently had their first Friendsgiving, and for them, they not only used it as a time to just hang out and eat together but also as an opportunity to really see each other and catch up. 

“We don’t really all have a lot of classes together, so it was a good time to get everyone together and laugh and have fun together because we don’t really see each other throughout the day,” Roberto said. 

Added sophomore Sophie Blaine, who was also in attendance: “I think it’s a good excuse to get together because we try to get together at least once a month, whether it’s dinner or something like that… Seeing more and more people do it has inspired me.”

This year is also Chakales’s friend group’s first Friendsgiving. 

“We decided to do it since it’s our senior year, and we wanted to go big or go home because we’re about to go off to college,” Chakales said.

Chakales plans to use Friendsgiving to promote inclusion and togetherness despite differences. 

“It’s just a time where you can include other people, gather around, have fun, eat, all that,” Chakales said.