I am your stereotypical Christmas lover -- holiday song singing and all. I decorated my dorm room with snowflakes hanging above my door, wrapped my door in wrapping paper and even have a little Christmas tree with ornaments hanging on it by my bedside. To make this better, I did all of this on November 30th -- the day before the first day of December. Now I know, most of you are pulling your hair out and yelling at my article saying, "Wait until December before celebrating Christmas!" and the other few of you are just like me. But, before that other half leaves and never reads the rest of this article, let me share why Christmas is so important to me and why I am so anxious to get the most wonderful time of the year started.

Christmas, to me, is less about getting gifts and not having school; it means a lot more. To me, it's about showing my friends how much I appreciate them in my life, showing them how much I know about them and demonstrating that I care about their happiness. Giving someone a gift is much more than, "Hey, I love you this many dollars worth." It is about putting someone else's happiness before your own saying, "I got you this gift because it reminded me of you, and I care more about your happiness than buying myself another pair of shoes." Don't get me wrong, I am all for DIY crafts, projects and hand-made gifts, but that also goes under, "I value your happiness over my time." I love the idea that I can make someone's whole day and bring them happiness simply because I took the time out of my life to show this person that I appreciate him or her and everything she or he does.

Now, as a college student, I understand that being tight on cash puts a gloomy outlook on the holidays. Especially when people such as your mom deserves an island, but you can maybe afford a candle. As an alternative, I have resorted to DIY crafts such as making a deck of cards into a "52 reasons why I love you" booklet and making picture frames for my friends. You can even be the person who gives the gift of your time as a gift. Offer to play for two hours to your six-year-old sister or offer to give someone a manicure for their gift.

Instead of thinking about how much we need to spend on each person to make giving gifts fair and thinking about whether or not you are getting a gift from the person you are giving a gift to, think about how you will be making someone's day better and bringing them happiness. Focus on spreading joy and happiness to those who truly need it. I love Christmas because it puts everyone in a warm and loving mood, and I am reminded of how blessed I truly am for the people I have in my life.

So remember to be grateful for those in your life this holiday season and that people's value does not correlate to the monetary value of a gift.