Dodging the Bullet: My First Servo Thanksgiving
President Janet Morgan Riggs converses with students at Servo Thanksgiving (Photo Jamie Welch / The Gettysburgian)
By Peter Zhang, Staff Writer
Servo sure advertised the Thanksgiving dinner well. Emails rushed in weeks ahead advertising ways to avoid the line. As a first-year, I had no idea what to expect. Around 5:30 p.m., I saw the line stretching all the way towards library. Thanks to friends from GRAB who waited in line since 3:00 and saved me a spot, I avoided much of that.
Once I stepped into Servo, dressed up staff welcomed everyone. A red tablecloth was set up beautifully on each table. Three or four servers stood next to each table with delicious dishes. However, I soon realized that these weren’t the normal Servo staff: many professors and administrators volunteered to help serve for this campus holiday. How wonderful!
I spotted my GRAB family near the window in the grill area. Rachael was cutting the turkey, and everybody were joking around about how no one would be a vegetarian today. Conner, who sat next to me, was listing all the delicious dishes that are about to be served. However, foods were served before he even finished “bragging” about Servo Thanksgiving from years past. Stuffing, cranberry, mashed potatoes, pumpkins, everything that people would enjoy back home — it smelled delicious. With no time to waste, everyone started to passing the bowl around the table and filled their plates with all the dishes. Rachael suggested that we each share one thing for which we are thankful. I said that I was really thankful for becoming a family member of GRAB.
People joked around throughout the dinner, talking about ups and downs of the semester, discussing how excited they were for the upcoming fall staff training. For a slightest moment, we forgot that each one of us were hundreds if not thousands miles away from home. However, the homesickness was erased by a group of family-like people. Servo Thanksgiving is my favorite Gettysburg event so far.
Editor’s Note: This article is the thirteenth of our series “Dodging the Bullet: The First Year Journal,” in which The Gettysburgian‘s staff members from the Class of 2021 share stories, reflections, and perspective on their first year experience. You can read the full series here. (BP)
