VENTURE: A Traditional Christmas

By Sarah Rogers, staff writer | English major

Decorating the Christmas tree is one favorite Christmas tradition of students. (Photo by Sarah Rogers)

As Christmas songs would have us believe, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. What makes it wonderful differs from caroler to caroler, so I decided to interview APU students to discover some favorite Christmas traditions.

For sophomore communication studies major Jaclyn Spencer, her cherished Christmas tradition is many people’s dreaded task: wrapping presents. She spends an entire day wrapping each gift to perfection, tapping into her inner Type A, according to Spencer. “It’s my creative outlet, trying to figure out how to put oddly shaped presents in a bag or wrapped in wrapping paper,” said Spencer. “It’s a fun challenge.” Her biggest challenge is disguising her mom’s annual kitchen appliance from her dad, as it’s often abnormally shaped.

Spencer took over the Christmas duty because her parents worked through the holidays and her brother didn’t embrace the creativity of wrapping presents. “One year, he wrapped them in newspaper,” said Spencer. According to Spencer, she is now an expert at the curled ribbon. Wrapping presents, for her, is a way to thank her parents for their generosity.

Senior social science major Devin Rigg embraces a more competitive Christmas tradition than Spencer. Every year, he and his geographically close family travel to his grandma’s house for a buffet and games. After a dinner of ham, turkey, and pretzel Jell-o (literally Jell-o with pretzels), they play a gift exchange game. Presents can be randomly picked out or stolen from another family member. Everyone brings a present to contribute.

“Sometimes, people will bring something terrible like a stuffed animal,” said Rigg. “But one year, someone brought an iPod.” Someone could pick the stuffed animal, but steal the iPod from somebody else. Despite the potential to spark anger, Rigg’s family only plays in good fun.

Amanda Kenney, sophomore journalism major, travels much farther than Rigg for some family fun. Most Christmases are spent in Brazil at her grandma’s house with her extended family. “Our uncle will drive in on a motorcycle wearing a Santa costume,” said Kenney. He gets recruited for the position every year because he’s the largest in the family. Afterwards, everyone gets a chance to ride the motorcycle.

Christmas traditions vary from student to student, family to family. What’s your Christmas tradition?

My favorite Christmas traditions:

1. Visiting my neighborhood Christmas lights
2. Decorating the Christmas tree with my family
3. Volunteering at a Christmas toy give away