What Do Holiday Traditions Mean to You?
Ryan Hundley is a second-year elementary education major at Arcadia. Ryan mainly celebrates Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. “For Christmas, we usually decorate the tree together with Christmas music playing, open one gift on Christmas Eve, and have Chinese food for dinner. For Easter and Thanksgiving, we always make haluska, a Hungarian dish. My mom and I also usually wear matching Christmas pajamas in the morning!” I asked her what was important about her family traditions.. “These traditions are very important to me, as they are so sentimental to my family and such a fun part of the holidays.” As for changing traditions as she got older, Ryan said her and her family have pretty much kept them the same.
Jamerika Grandberry is a first-year sociology and criminal justice major. The holidays she usually celebrates with friends and family are New Year, Juneteenth, Indigenous People’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. She shared a few of her traditions. “Every Juneteenth my mama lights a candle at the beginning of the day. She lights the candle to represent the ever-burning appreciation for Black people before who have opened doors. At the end of the day we blow the candle out and express our gratitude and admiration to everyone before us who gave us the opportunity to be where we are and who we are today.” Jamerika and her friends also started their own tradition for Thanksgiving. “For the last couple Thanksgivings, I would go to my high school’s football game. The last two years of high school, my friends and I decided to start going together and then making a mini feast to eat together as a friend-family.” She holds these traditions. and more, very close to her heart. “My traditions are important to me because it reminds me that regardless of what happens in my life, I have my family and my friends. Beyond being able to appreciate and show love to my family and friends, I’m given the opportunity to honor and remember people who are an important part of who I am.”
Michela Found is a second-year BFA major with a concentration in photography. She mainly celebrates Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. “A tradition I love is me and my nana bake cookies every year while listening to Christmas music. We also decorate the tree and make a wish before taking it down; it’s supposed to bring you good luck in your wish coming true.” There are also some traditions relating to other holidays she finds important. “My mom makes a homemade apple and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving every year and she’s recently passed on the tradition to me!” Michela believes these traditions are what make holidays specials. “I feel like I am a very big traditions person when it comes to the holidays!” She also mentioned how coming to school has changed some of her traditions. “Being at college makes things a little more difficult. Like picking out a Christmas tree together or decorating pumpkins is harder to do three hours away.” But her traditions also have expanded.“Friend traditions also changed, welcoming new -people into my life and such, like having a friendsgiving or doing Secret Santa!”
After learning about some of my peers’ holiday traditions, I have a new appreciation for my own. There are some of my family traditions that I hold very close to my heart. Christmas is big in my family, so every year my cousins and I do a Secret Santa on Christmas Eve, which my family hosts. Also, to honor our Polish ancestors, we have fish for one of the dishes and share oplatek, or the Christmas wafer, on Christmas Eve. We also usually host Thanksgiving, and even though it stresses my Mom out, I know she enjoys all the family being together. It’s important to remember in these ever-changing times that there are some things that don’t have to change.
