An appreciation toward someone you love does not have to be as fancy as buying an expensive bouquet of roses.
On Thursday, many students ate donuts, relaxed with music, wrote thank you cards and posted leaves of gratitude on a board for the “Give Thanks” event at the Student Engagement/ASO Center.
“We wanted students to get a chance to remind themselves of all the wonderful things that they have or the people that they have in their life whom they’re thankful for,” said Sidra Bahadar, Peer to Peer Mentor coordinator.
Students filled the “Brahmas Are Thankful For” board with fall season leaves, with some sharing they’re grateful for life, themselves, family, friends, co-workers and campus opportunities.
At card-making booths, students wrote gratitude cards using design supplies, such as colored pencils, sharpeners, paper and letter tracers.
Steven Blugrind, an attendee, said he’s thankful for himself and his family. He thinks writing a card of thankfulness for someone is a good surprise and is a special treat that is as good as Valentine’s Day.
“If a friend of mine wrote a card and he was thankful for me, it could bring positivity towards a friendly relationship,” Blugrind said. “If I’m thankful for a certain person, like a girl, I’m thankful for them. They might think of it as something good or maybe something romantic and they’d be like, ‘“Wow, I mean to this person way more than I think how the situation is.’”
The Peer-to-Peer Mentor Program and Associated Students Organization (ASO) coordinated the event, which lasted from 12-2 p.m. Students who couldn’t make it had an opportunity afterwards to enjoy donuts and write cards.
Bahadar said she’s happy about the turnout.
“I really am happy to see the students engaged in making cards for people whom they’re thankful for,” Bahadar said. “I wasn’t sure if students would still like doing that.”
Summer Mehrzai, an attendee, said the importance of writing gratitude cards is expressing how you feel and hopes the person she gives her card to will feel warmth.
“I know you can’t express everything, but at least writing something, just a little bit, and giving it to someone else could probably brighten up their day,” Mehrzai said. “Like if I received something like that, I would be like, ‘Oh my gosh! Thank you!’ I would feel warmth inside that someone at least made the effort to make a card.”
