Student Activities Blogs

Meg Carley

It's That Time Again...

I can’t believe it! It’s already less than a month until Christmas but who am I kidding? You’re probably well aware of how close the holiday is due to the spring up of various tacky decorations such as blow up Santa’s, tinsel and of course, the artificial Christmas tree. Although, when it comes to tacky decorations nothing can top my Dad’s purchase of Christmas lights in the shape of fish. If you’re picturing them right now then let me assure you that they are as heinous as you would believe. No worries though because they burnt out a few years ago which is a true Christmas miracle.

While it’s fun for me to poke fun at certain aspects of Christmas (who wouldn't?), I do admit that it’s one of my favorite holidays and I look forward to it every year. Not because of the gifts or the great musical jingles that spawn from the holiday (love that Mariah Carey song) but rather, everyone’s general attitude. It seems to me that right around Christmas time people just seem so darn happy*(I put a star next to this statement because I want to excuse UConn students from this assumption until finals are over)! What I’ve learned over the past few years is that the “Christmas attitude”, as I like to put it, is contagious. It’s like in that movie Pay it Forward where Haley Joel Osment plays a kid who comes up with a theory where if you help three people then those three people will individually help three other people which will spawn a revolution of kindness. I’m really not sure if I explained that right but my point is that the movie relates to the “Christmas attitude” because people are so nice and friendly with each other during this time that the Christmas cheer ultimately spreads to everyone. Sigh. I just love that warm, fuzzy feeling Christmas brings.

I would just like to note that while Christmas is a great holiday, I don’t want to exclude the other holidays that occur around the same time. On one hand we have Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday. I’ll admit it, I’m a little jealous of this holiday mainly because it consists of “Eight Crazy Nights” as Adam Sandler likes to put it. This holiday is also linked to a most excellent jam titled “The Dreidel Song” which I happen to love. On the other hand we have Kwanzaa. Not a lot of people know about this holiday but it’s pretty great for two reasons. One, it promotes African American culture and two, the holiday is celebrated for a full seven days and includes New Year’s. In my opinion, these two qualities puts Kwanzaa at the top of my book. Let’s face it, all of these characteristics make Hanukkah and Kwanzaa excellent holidays to celebrate.

It’s officially the most wonderful time of the year so get those papers done at the last minute and curse your professor for making your final cumulative. Get all those negative feelings out now because soon enough the “Christmas attitude” is going to get ya. Any time you need a little pick me up during these next couple weeks simply take a breather, relax and start grooving to the classic “All I Want for Christmas is You” by the soulful gem Mariah Carey. Works every time, all the time.