Notre Dame Holiday Traditions

              Though the holiday season is used to relax from a busy year, spend time with family, and prepare for the new year around the world, each family has a unique and different tradition that makes the holidays that much more special. With such an amazingly diverse population such as our school, there is no doubt that our student body population would also have a wide range of holiday traditions. For Shreya Dinesh ‘23, “the holidays are the perfect time to catch up with friends and family where we play games like secret Santa or white elephant.” Like many other ND students, Dinesh enjoys going “to Christmas in the park and the ice skating rink.” For Notre Dame students, the accessibility to downtown holiday traditions and activities make the holidays that much more special. Similarly, Kelly Christian ‘20 says, “I hang out with friends and drive down to visit my family to celebrate the holidays” and Elly Wu ‘22 says she, “... stayed at home and hung out with friends.”. To many ND students, the holidays are defined by family, friends, and the people around them. For Phoenix LaFreniere ‘21, the holidays mean spending time with family and celebrating Kwanzaa. She says, “December 26th every year is the start of Kwanzaa. This holiday is very important to my family and it represents a time for us to reflect and plan what we want to accomplish in the new year… we also get presents every day for 7 days”. The last day of Kwanzaa is filled with celebration as LaFreniere states, “On the last day of Kwanzaa, all of my extended family gathers together and we have what is called a Karamu, which is a party on the last day of Kwanzaa in which we eat, sing, play games, and spread the love and happiness”.  No matter who you are, the holidays are an excellent time to relax and spend time with the people that matter to you. The holidays are defined by our similarities and differences that bring us together in order to remind us of what really is important to us in our lives.