Somehow, some way, it's already the holiday season. Thanksgiving is approaching and Christmas isn't too far behind. It's the best time of year — that is, if you're someone who gets to actually experience the holiday season. There's so much excitement, decorations, holiday tv shows and movies, pumpkin spice and peppermint EVERYTHING, but for us college students, the holiday season just brings in our biggest workload of the semester.
As a kid, I always loved the holidays, and still do, but it's safe to say that the holidays are definitely not what they used to be. My family hosts all of the holidays, so growing up I had no choice but to be right in the middle of all the holiday excitement. Preparing for Thanksgiving requires a lot of effort, but I was always willing to help out because who doesn't love Thanksgiving? Christmas is a different kind of preparation, but of course, that's just as enjoyable, if not more enjoyable than preparing for Thanksgiving. Either way, I miss out on all of the exciting holiday season preparation and spirit all because I'm a college student.
In college, the holiday season morphs into finals season. It's no longer about helping your parents cook for Thanksgiving or decorating the family Christmas tree. Instead, it's about finals projects, finals exams, and the most important ingredient... stress. This is a sad reality for some kids, like me, who are infatuated with the holidays and all the holiday joy it brings. As you're on a bus going to class and look at all the students who are last-minute studying, catching up on sleep, or just look downright miserable, you realize holiday "joy" is not even a thought.
Sure, there are ways to put yourself in the holiday mood, but none of it equates to being home, with family, enjoying the holiday season. Yeah, you can put up a Christmas tree in your dorm as soon as Halloween is over if you're one of those people that forget about Thanksgiving or you can eat the dining hall's version of a "Thanksgiving dinner." Whatever way you choose to maybe feel that holiday spirit a bit more, none of it works. College students still have to worry about 10,000 other things before they worry about the fact that the holidays are right around the corner.
Just recently, I got a text from my work's group chat from home asking who could make it to the Christmas party. Of course, the date of the Christmas party is right in the middle of finals week for me. If this isn't an accurate description of how the holiday season goes for college students, then I don't know what is. Not to say that no one else experiences stress or that everyone other than college kids gets to enjoy the holidays, but it is to say that the holiday season is prime stress time for most college kids.
During the week leading up to Thanksgiving, a lot of college students are finishing up some projects, homework assignments, and maybe finishing up the second round of exams before finals. The week leading into Christmas is final exam week for a lot of college students. So, after our workload leading up to Thanksgiving is complete, we only have a day or two (if you're lucky) to enjoy Thanksgiving before it's over and the same goes for Christmas. After finals are over, there are only a few days in between a student's last final exam and Christmas day. I don't know about you, but a few days to enjoy a decorated Christmas tree in the comfort of your own home is nowhere near enough time to satisfy all of your holiday season needs.
With the holidays approaching faster than any of us can even get our grades back, it's easy to get into a slump. Of course, anyone would much rather be with their families enjoying the holiday season, but the sad reality is, we have homework and exams to get through. But don't let that bring you down! We're almost done and although you may not feel like you're in the holiday spirit, soon we will be overeating stuffing and turkey and decorating our Christmas trees with our families at home.
