That’s what Sarah said

The table is set, the sweet aroma from the kitchen wafts over and you look up, but it’s not Aunt Sally or Uncle Bill across from you — it’s a dozen of your closest friends.

A new tradition is sweeping the millennial generation over the past years, and for once, I’m not complaining.

Friendsgiving, the gathering of people who aren’t related to each other for a Thanksgiving meal filled with good food and laughter, has become more and more popular with college students.

While Thanksgiving day is usually reserved for gatherings of extended family you may see once or twice a year, friendsgiving is a time for close friends to spend an evening together enjoying classic Thanksgiving dishes with people your own age.

After participating in three friendsgivings this year with friends at Liberty University, I now understand the hype around the new fad. The chance to see if you can cook as well as your mother and the opportunity to remember how thankful you are for the friends in your life make friendsgiving a tradition I want to continue.

Normally on Thanksgiving, my mom or grandmother are the ones in the kitchen in the morning making all the delicious dishes we’ll eat later in the day, but friendsgiving is a time for me and my friends to try our hand at cooking.

Understanding my lack in the cooking skills department, I stayed away from cooking the turkey and sweet potato casserole and chose to confine myself to the dessert with much success.

As well as being a time to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner food more often than just on the fourth Thursday of November, friendsgiving is a chance to reminisce on the year with your peers. At college, your friends are the people day-in-and-day-out with whom you hang out and spend the majority of your time.

Friendsgiving is the perfect time to reflect and be thankful. It’s also a chance to spend quality time with college friends before you all go across the country to spend the holiday at home.

Though I love family gatherings at Thanksgiving because I get to be around people I deeply care about, friendsgiving is the perfect addition to an already great holiday season.

Rodriguez is the editor-in-chief.