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The holidays are a great time to come together with friends and family to share a home-cooked meal and remember what you're most thankful for. But it can be tough for students who are far from home, sometimes celebrating away from their families for the first time. That鈥檚 why, at The American University of Paris, we鈥檙e grateful for our tight-knit community gathering in person at this year鈥檚 Fall Fest 鈥� the Student Government Association鈥檚 (SGA) inclusive holiday celebration, held to coincide with American Thanksgiving.

Fall Fest is organized by the SGA鈥檚 first-year representatives, who this year are Halley Hoellwarth and Jennilynn Garcia. The pair started planning the event in September, taking charge of event logistics from organizing the decorations to booking the Grands Salons rooms in the Combes Student Life Center. 鈥淲e wanted it to feel like Thanksgiving at home,鈥� explains Halley. 鈥淗olding it in the Combes building really helped make it cozy.鈥�

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, students were able to share a meal and celebrate together in November. Fall Fest officially returned last year but was only able to offer students takeaway options due to ongoing sanitary protocols. Sharing a meal in person was therefore a key priority for this year鈥檚 organizers. 鈥淢y favorite part was seeing how much everyone enjoyed being in person,鈥� said Halley. 鈥淭he atmosphere was great!鈥�

Around 275 community members showed up to the event. 鈥淚t was wonderful to see people having somewhere to celebrate the holidays,鈥� says Jennilynn. The AMEX Caf茅 catered the savory portion of the meal, providing over 200 kilograms of turkey for the evening. To make the event feel even more like a family Thanksgiving, students were asked to contribute to a dessert potluck. Jennilynn brought a chocolate cake to share: 鈥淭here was everything from brownies to pies and muffins,鈥� she says.

One of the main aims of Fall Fest was to create a welcoming environment for all students on campus, regardless of whether they celebrated American Thanksgiving. 鈥淚t was important to keep the name Fall Fest to be inclusive of all cultural backgrounds and beliefs,鈥� explains Jennilynn. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want anyone to feel like they weren鈥檛 welcome or that they couldn鈥檛 come.鈥� In this way, Fall Fest retained the tradition of sharing food, while acknowledging the diverse nationalities of 黑料正能量 students; over 100 nationalities are represented on campus.

Another tradition that Fall Fest continued is expressing what attendees are thankful for this year. 鈥淚鈥檓 really grateful I ended up at 黑料正能量,鈥� says Halley. 鈥淚 always expected to stay in the US, but now I am here, I love it.鈥� Jennilynn agrees: 鈥淚鈥檓 also thankful for the community I鈥檝e become a part of here. I really feel like I鈥檝e found my place.鈥�