People stood on Bruin Walk last week with a question for passing students: “What are you thankful for?”
The question resonated and students paused in reflection to write their responses on paper leaves.
The red, orange and yellow leaves were then taped to a cardboard tree sitting on a simple picnic bench outside of Kerckhoff Hall, creating a trunk and branches.
“There is so much to be thankful for,” said David Nauta, a second-year civil engineering student and outreach team leader of Campus Crusade for Christ, which put on the pre-Thanksgiving event on Bruin Walk. “We need to be careful we don’t take things for granted.”
For Thanksgiving, Nauta, who lives in Anaheim, will be volunteering at the Honda Center. At the venue, local businesses donate food to families and individuals who do not have the means to provide their own Thanksgiving meal. Nauta has been volunteering there for several years.
While Nauta stays local, second-year English student Amy Trivers will be catching a flight across the country to celebrate Thanksgiving in Georgia for the first time.
The Atlanta airport has a long hallway where family can wait for weary travelers with roses and posters, Trivers said. She said she admits to getting teary-eyed each time she is greeted there.
Trivers, a native Californian, moved with her family last year after she started attending UCLA. But aside from switching states, not much has changed.
“We’ve always been a mashed potatoes and turkey family,” Trivers said, smiling.
Aside from reuniting with her family, she looks forward to experiencing seasons.
“The trees in Georgia actually change color,” Trivers said. “(In Los Angeles) it sometimes feels like perpetual summer.”
For some students who cannot make it home for the extended weekend, Thanksgiving will take place at UCLA.
Kappa Kappa Psi, the band service fraternity, will host a Thanksgiving potluck for members of the band who will be staying on campus.
Some band members who live in Northern California or far away will not be able to travel home for the holidays. The band must play for the rivalry game against USC on Saturday.
“Since we have rehearsal on Friday and the game on Saturday, we figured we’d have our own Thanksgiving right here,” said Chris Carandang, a third-year civil engineering student and director of service for the fraternity.
The fraternity and its sister sorority, Tau Beta Sigma, will provide the turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. The approximately 20 guests will come with beverages and side dishes.
The feast will take place in Atrium Court where a number of band members live. These seven apartments, some of which have been passed down from marching band seniors to underclassmen for five to six years, are nicknamed “the band apartments” and are associated with “home” for the band, Carandang said.
It can be hard for students accustomed to going home to watch their friends leave while they are “stuck” in Los Angeles, Carandang said. He said he hopes the band dinner will make them feel more comfortable.