Thanksgiving is a tradition for most families in the U.S. but on Tuesday, some in north Texas experienced the holiday feast for the very first time.
The University of Texas at Arlington has about 6,000 international students from more than 100 countries.
“International students are thousands of miles from home. Everyone on campus leaves to go be with families and they don't have anything to do,” said Jay Horn, Executive Director of UTA’s Office of International Education.
Horn says the idea to have a Thanksgiving feast focused on international and study-abroad students began in his office in 2017.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Back then, the event served about 40 students. Eight years later, meals were prepared for about 700 people for the event that is now campus-wide.
“I'm actually retiring this year and I'm hoping to leave this as a legacy because it's a wonderful event,” said Horn.
Anviti Singh arrived in the U.S. from India four months ago. She’s getting her master's degree in computer science.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Until Tuesday, she says she'd only seen Thanksgiving feasts in movies and cartoons.
“It’s so huge, it’s so grand. I’ve always wanted to try it and I know I have a sweet tooth and I already knew that there's going to be so much sweet food and I was not disappointed,” said Singh.
Chefs prepared 120 pounds of turkey, 80 pounds of ham, seven sides, 42 pies and 42 cakes for the event that brings customs and cultures to the table.
