Late into the night of November 5th, 2024, Christ’s College was abuzz with a crowd of excited students. All there for a watch party monitoring the incoming vote tallies for the US presidential election.

“We had to rent out a separate room just in anticipation of some people crying because of the results,” said Anakin Mallick (King’s 2024) who for the past two years has served as president of the Cambridge American Society, a student organization that each year invites the hundreds of US Students studying at Cambridge to take part in distinctly American events. Among them, Thanksgiving dinners, Superbowl parties, and election watch parties.

Mallick was a key point person putting together the 2024 Presidential Election event. He even wore a Captain America costume. "It was easily our biggest event ever. The energy was incredible.”

The Cambridge American Society has been operating for several years. While its primary mission is to engage the roughly 700 Americans studying at Cambridge at any given time, it welcomes all students, whether American or not and tends to attract those with an interest in the US.

Mallick, who was born in Bangladesh and raised in the UK, has such a deep affection for the US, he ran for president of the Cambridge American Society twice and won both times. “My soul is American,” said Mallick.

“He has an interesting perspective,” said Society colleague, committee member, and treasurer Alexei Kaloshin (King’s 2024). “He had never even lived in the states.”

Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Maryland, Kaloshin is studying physics at Cambridge. He worked with Mallick to coordinate the Society’s trademark annual event last year — the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Kaloshin said the meal itself, which includes an American Thanksgiving menu including turkey, stuffing, and the trimmings, is expensive but worth it. For him, it wasn’t just about the food.

“The Thanksgiving was so nice,” said Kaloshin. “Honestly even just hearing the American accent again, it matters more than you think. Seeing people show up, and hearing them say, ‘Oh, I'm from here, ‘and it's just two hours away from where you live!” Kaloshen said such interactions have led to friendships with American students that he might not have otherwise met.

“I love my country and I wanted to meet other Americans,” said Jeremy Pustilnik (Wolfson 2025), who grew up in Texas. So, he was among those who made a point of connecting with the American Society and attended last year’s Thanksgiving celebration. “It was great, it was an English version of Thanksgiving, like dining in a five-star restaurant,” said Pustilnik.

Kaloshin ran the Society’s information booth at this year’s Freshers Fair, an annual event which introduces incoming students to the different societies and clubs at Cambridge. We tell them about the Society and Thanksgiving and the different events. We also hand out little cards telling people how to vote while out of the country. This fall, many want to vote in the midterms, and we wanted to educate them. We had hundreds of people showing up.”

The Cambridge American Society also connects students with US nonprofits and resources to help them navigate life abroad. And the organization has a way of helping students through unofficial channels, explained Mallick.

“They will book flights together back to America, so they can at least travel with people they know. I'm really pleased with the community we've developed, and with all the good we've done,” Mallick said.

Looking ahead to next academic year, Kaloshin plans to continue serving on the committee and Pustilnik said he’s planning to attend Society events.  Mallick, now in the first months of a medical residency in Buffalo, New York and living his dream to reside in the states, will graduate from Cambridge in July. As he prepares to step down from leading the Cambridge American Society, he hopes the organization will continue to help American students build meaningful connections—with one another and with the country he loves so deeply.

“I don't identify as a religious person, per se,” said Mallick, “but I think God's gifts come in many different forms, sometimes it's people, and I think America is one of those gifts.”