This is probably the most favored holiday season of the year. The Fourth of July and Easter are great, but they can't compete with the jam-packed holiday season from Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve.
These holidays are fun to celebrate. Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas are a time for family, food, religion, and presents. Things most of us can appreciate. New Year's Eve is a time to ring in the new year with high school friends you haven't seen since the last time you changed your major. But, the real appeal of this season isn't only the holidays and much-needed family time. It's mostly the break from your fast-paced college career.
Freshman or senior, you still can't wait until Thanksgiving break. It's only a few days off and finals quickly follow, but it's still a sweet relief from the busy part of our lives we refer to as the good ol' college years. Once a year we get to go home, pig out on our favorite comfort foods, and listen to our relatives argue. Chances are you have a professor who made a major project or paper due right after the break, but doing it from the comfort of your childhood home is better than from a busy sorority/fraternity house or apartment.
Christmas is a holiday celebrated by the religious and non-religious. While I might celebrate it with the intentions of remembering Jesus' birth, others might not. Regardless, it's still another chance to bond with your cousins who live hours away and make up for the missed time with your dog who had assumed you died. This break is even better than Thanksgiving break because you don't have homework you'll regret putting off (the semester is over!!) and it's ten times the length of Thanksgiving break. Sure, not too much partying going on, but your body can sure use the rest.
New Year's Eve is a time to rekindle the friendships you've put on the back-burner all semester. You love them, but you haven't seen or heard from them in 3 months. However, you do need someone to watch the ball drop with, and you don't want that someone to be your cat. You get the old gang back together and find whoever has the biggest basement with the biggest TV and the least nosy parents. Maybe you even have that special someone-that-could've-been-had-you-not-gone-to-different-schools who might kiss you after the countdown.
I think it's safe to say I make a good case for this time being the most wonderful time of the year. With all of the down time, the party of the year (the only party during winter break), and the good great food, who could possibly disagree? Happy Holidays and go Bucks!
