An Olin Friendsgiving

Hi! I’m Rishita, your not-so-chaotic-and-very-friendly Olin sophomore! I’m here to reminisce about the good olde pre-Covid era and my first Friendsgiving with Oliners! So, hop on the bus because we’re on our way down memory lane to New York City.

 
Friendsgiving 2019
 
Last Thanksgiving break, approximately 25% of my Olin class took a $5 bus down to the Big Apple for four days, and if I could, I’d make a movie capturing our trip. No seriously, I would. (#iwishsomeonewouldsponsorme). 
 

 
Our first day in New York City
 
To my surprise, the trip turned out to be more affordable* than I had imagined and maintained a great balance of bonding and sightseeing. Because we had rented out an Airbnb, we would start off the day with some handmade breakfast followed by grabbing a cup of coffee from our beloved Starbucks. 

 

 
Drinking iced coffee in freezing rain...what could go wrong?
 
The rest of the afternoon would be spent pampering our inner tourists by indulging in the limitless sights the Big Apple boasts. We covered the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Ground Zero, and Central Park, among other places! And let me tell you, the November sunset never looked as calming as it did atop the Brooklyn Bridge. 
 

 
We definitely spent too much time taking some sun-kissed photos for the gram
 
Andddd of course! How could I forget the evenings spent roaming the ever-bright streets of Times Square?! So no one told me New York was gonna be this wayyyyy *clap clap clap clap*  The classic NY cheesecake paired with amazing Thanksgiving deals made for the perfect opportunity to go on a mini-shopping spree with friends!
 

 
Full disclosure: some highlighters may have been damaged at Sephora during our spree
 
The evenings at the Airbnb were filled with me (obviously and most definitely) beating others at Set, trying not to scream while playing Murder in the Dark (ah yes, the pre-Among Us era...what a time), and preparing dinner (somewhat chaotically) as a group!
 

All in all, over the course of these few days I had the opportunity to get closer with my classmates and forge some new friendships (along with visiting my favourite city in the world)! It was only after this trip that I was able to say that I truly belong at Olin *cue cheesy nostalgic music*
 

 
Here’s a cheesy pic with my bestie...please enjoy!
 

This year, some of us hopped on a virtual New York City tour to celebrate Friendsgiving, while others got together with their communes/household groups to have a feast together. Although different, this Friendsgiving was just as important as last year's to remind me of all the Oliners I am beyond thankful to have in my life. 
 
If given a chance, I definitely urge you to take a trip with Oliners during your time here!
 
That’s it from me today folks. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk! See you around :)
 
*Details of the cost breakdown: We found cheap bus tickets ($10 round trip) and rented an Airbnb in New Jersey which we all shared ($15 per day).  Since we were in our own Airbnb, we decided to cook our own meals (which also saved us a lot of money and was a great bonding experience). To get to the city, we took the public transportation which cost about $3-6 depending on where we were headed. We went to some tourist attractions, but we also spent a lot of the time exploring the city life and free places.
 
-Rishita
 
P.S. Feel free to reach out to me at rsarin@olin.edu to learn more about Olin and what it’s like to be at a micro-sized college. I swear I’m not scary :)
 

Rishita Sarin (she/her/hers) is a sophomore at Olin studying Engineering with a concentration in Computing and Economics.