Served by faculty and staff, Servo Thanksgiving brought students together to eat turkey and other festive food (Photo Cameron D’Amica/The Gettysburgian)
By Cameron D’Amica, Contributing Writer
Servo Thanksgiving has a big reputation on the Gettysburg College campus, and the excitement began to build days before the actual event. As a first year student, I kept wondering what Servo Thanksgiving actually was and why everyone looked forward to it. It definitely lived up to its reputation.
The first and coldest part of Servo’s annual Thanksgiving feast for students was the wait. Lines started well before the actual meal started, and the line reached to the fountain by Mara Auditorium.
I was amazed! The line was filled with eager groups of hungry students huddled with their friends, taking breaks from work and their daily activities to celebrate and be thankful. I began to understand that waiting in line, even though it was cold, was all part of the experience.
Finally, it was my group’s turn to go in. We received our table number and hurriedly made our way into Servo, where we sat down at a table and those serving quickly brought mashed potatoes, stuffing, bread, corn, and gravy to us. I did not realize that our food would be brought to us.
It felt exactly like a Thanksgiving meal as friends passed dishes and drinks to one another in a frenzy.
Finally, a big turkey was delivered to our table, where everyone was patiently waiting for arguably the most important part of the meal. Cutting the turkey ourselves was definitely a challenge but also the best part of the dinner. It took some instruction and help to finally pass the turkey around, but it was worth it.
The turkey, along with everything else on the table, was delicious. Servo could not have done a better job in organizing a seamless and tasty meal, bringing the campus together.
Sitting around the big table, surrounded by friends and good food, I felt truly thankful. I was thankful for Servo and Gettysburg, thankful my new friends, experiences, and opportunities at college, and thankful that I get to do it all over again on Thursday with my family!
Servo Thanksgiving was much more than an ordinary Tuesday dinner. I ate and laughed with friends and enjoyed a great meal, making me even more excited for what was to come.
I am happy to say that I can look forward to Thanksgiving on campus for three more years.
Editor’s Note: This article is part of the 2018 edition of our series “Dodging the Bullet: The First Year Journal,” in which The Gettysburgian‘s staff members from the Class of 2022 share stories, reflections, and perspective on their first year experience. (-M. Neiman)
