By Yulissa Barrios, Staff Writer
The holiday season is about spending quality time with your family. At Saint Leo University, since the student body is composed of students from a variety of cultures, they have different annual traditions they do with their families to make the holidays even more special.
Ava Ginlesperger, a senior majoring in communications stated “Every Christmas Eve, we go to dinner, then church. Then once we get home, my family and I wear matching pajamas by the Christmas tree.”
By the time Christmas morning arrives, Ginlesperger enjoys a special breakfast and cherishes these traditions as they offer a rare opportunity to spend quality time with family, something she doesn’t often do on a daily basis.
Zariah Nicholas, a senior majoring in social work, expressed, “my family would create hamade ornaments.” Nicholas stated the reason why her family does this is to conserve the memories over time.
Because many people are stressed out with their responsibilities, it can be hard to remember the blessings in life.
Another tradition that Nicholas has with her family is the White Elephant gift exchange. White Elephant is a game in which everyone buys an inexpensive gift, not knowing who will receive it. Once everyone brings in their gift, one person will pick out a random present and unwrap it. The next person can either steal it or unwrap a new gift. Nicholas enjoys the sense of excitement and unpredictable element of the game.
For some students, something simple rather than extravagant during the holiday is preferred.
Lena Do, a senior majoring in business management, expressed “since my family is small, I usually just go out for dinner at a fancy restaurant.”
Although some students celebrate lavishly, like buying extravagant Christmas presents or Christmas caroling around the whole neighborhood, what matters is spending quality time with loved ones.
For international students, seeing some of the traditions performed on campus including setting cookies and milk for Santa or having a Christmas tree lighting ceremony might seem strange or out of the ordinary for them. However, once they arrive back home for the holiday season, they are comforted by the traditions and the family they are surrounded by.
“As an international student, I don’t usually follow the typical American traditions of the holidays. I usually do something simple with my family like a campfire in the backyard and barbecue” stated Victoria Namayega, a sophomore from Uganda majoring in nursing.
Although Saint Leo university is a catholic institution, the university welcomes people from other religions as well. This leads to people having a different view of Christian holidays, including Christmas.
Malina Shrestha, a sophomore majoring in social work, stated, “Although I don’t identify myself as a Christian, my family still participates in the tradition of giving out presents and spending time with family.”
For Shrestha, as a Hindu, although she might not celebrate the religious part of Christmas, she loves how Americans culturally celebrate with the whole family.
“From the Hindu religion, my family and I celebrate Tihar, a holiday celebrated in the country I am from, Nepal. This is usually a festival of lights which celebrates one of the gods, Lord Rama’s, victory over Rachess Ravana,” stated Shrestha.
With Saint Leo being a diverse institute, there are many different traditions students have that make the holidays special for them. Although these traditions may differ drastically, they all bring a sense of comfort and home in their own way.
