Now that Halloween is over, the weather is colder, and Daylight Savings has passed, Christmas season is approaching. The question “When should we start celebrating Christmas?” is posed. For some, Christmas is an all-year-long festival. Others think that Christmas should not be celebrated until after Thanksgiving.
As I was wandering around campus, listening to conversations between strangers and some of my friends, the debate of Christmas and when it should be celebrated was brought up. I decided to create a small poll and give it out to other college students to see what their opinions were.
The poll was two questions long, the first being a multiple choice question and the second being a paragraph question. The first question asked, “When should we start celebrating Christmas?” The options to answer were: a) November 1st, b) After Thanksgiving, c) All year long, d) First week of December, e) After the first snowfall that sticks and f) other. Testers could pick one of the given answers or type in their own time in the “other” option. For the second question, participants wrote a summary explaining why they chose one of the options provided.
Thirty-five college students, ranging from first time students to graduates, male and female, were all asked to participate. Each comes from a different background and lifestyle. Answers were anonymous. Out of the answers, 51.4% of testers chose “After Thanksgiving,” 17.1% each chose “November 1st” and “First week of December,” and 5.7% chose “All year long,” while the other 8.7% chose “other.” No one voted “after the first snowfall sticks.”
Majority of the detailed answers explained how Christmas is a wonderful holiday, but if we celebrate it for too long it gets old and doesn’t receive the time and love it deserves. The other half of answers explained how Christmas is a wonderful holiday and brings so much joy and happiness and is about celebrating Christ, so why not celebrate it as soon as possible.
Besides this poll, when deciding when to celebrate any holiday, it is up to an individual and their belief.
Holidays are meant to be special and individuals having their own traditions and way of celebrating makes the holiday that much more important. Even when teaching a child about holidays, we can teach them that some people have different beliefs and that is okay. It is our differences that unite us. Makinya Ward, in her article “The Importance of Sharing Holidays You Don’t Celebrate in Preschool” wrote about this idea. She wrote, “However, holidays are times that people can unite around something bigger than themselves. Learning about holiday celebrations, especially ones celebrated by other students in their classroom, helps children to develop an appreciation and understanding for what is important to their friends, neighbors and other people they meet in the community.”
Makinya’s experience as well as the results of this poll show that it really doesn’t matter how other people celebrate holidays as everyone celebrates holidays in their own ways with their own traditions. This is what makes every holiday special and unique.
– by Ari Hurdsman
Feature image caption: What makes Christmas so special and unique is that everyone celebrates it differently. It’s okay that some people celebrate all year long and some people wait until December. Courtesy of element digital.
Ari Hurdsman – Junction
Ari Hurdsman is a junior journalist at the Byway. She just recently moved to Ephraim, Utah, where she is a freshman at Snow College. She enjoys writing about Piute sports, and she’s really good at it! In her free time, she enjoys singing, dancing, reading and hanging out with friends and family.