Anyone who's birthday falls during the school year can relate -- college birthdays can suck, especially your first year. No one can afford big presents and sometimes you don't even know enough about the person to make a meaningful gift. Here are a few options for making your college friends' birthdays special no matter how long you've known them.
1. Pictures.
A good way of showing someone how much you care is to show it on film, after all, they do say pictures are worth a thousand words. This can be tough if you friend's birthday is in the first quarter or semester of school, but I had enough pictures to print out and give as a gift to my close friends by the end of my second semester. Printer paper and ink are relatively inexpensive (considering you won't use the entire thing for one person) and tons of college students have printers. Remind your friend of all your favorite memories (or you could print out their favorite Instagram posts).
2. Go out to eat.
If there's one thing college students want an excuse to do, it is to go out to eat. When you're restricted to meal plan and mac and cheese, everyone could use a meal away from dorm sweet dorm. You don't even have to go to a fancy restaurant, tons of college students would love to go out for pizza (let's be honest, plenty would even go to Taco Bell).
3. Decorate their door.
Whether you're in a dorm or apartment-style student housing, everyone has a door. My second year of college I turned 20 in October and my best friend and neighbor decorated the front door of my apartment while my apartment-mate decorated the door to my room. Three months later, I still have remnants of the decorations on the door to my room and it still makes me smile every time I see it.
4. Surprise them.
Of course, this is easier said than done but the best (and sometimes hardest) way to make your college friend feel special is throwing them a surprise party. You can shower them with their favorite meal or snacks, or surprise your friend with a fun event to do with them. You could even plan a visit from someone from home.
5. Help plan a visit from high school friends or significant other.
This may be the most challenging way to surprise your friend because the difficulty increases the farther away you are to their hometown. For those friends who don't live anywhere near school, helping someone from their hometown plan a special Skype or Facetime call can be just as meaningful.
6. Blow up their social media.
The easiest, cheapest, fastest (but also least guaranteed) way of making your college friends' birthdays special is for you and your friends to blow up their Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with messages of love and congratulations.
