Connor J. Misko
Contributing Writer
Finals week looms over many students at the end of every semester. As the winter break inches closer, it can be nice to take a moment to relax and start preparing for the holidays.
Holiday traditions are what bring families together and make celebrations special. Traditions come in many different shapes and sizes, and there are no shortage of interesting ones here at ESU. Students have shared some of their favorite holiday traditions just in time for Christmas.
When it comes to decorating for Christmas, the possibilities are endless. Carly Frable’s family goes above and beyond for decor.
“My dad has a little Christmas village with mini houses he puts up,” she said. “We always sit around and help him put it all together. We’re all together as a family when we do that, so it’s nice.”
Christmas every year for Rowan Medcraft means a drive down to New Jersey to see his extended family. “We have this secret Santa thing because my extended family is so big that we can’t really get a gift for everyone.”
Culture plays a big role in many holiday traditions. Many students on campus celebrate Christmas while also expressing their cultural identity.
James Sockman’s family incorporates a few Norwegian traditions into their holiday. They celebrate Christmas a day early. “One side of my family is Norwegian, so I can celebrate Christmas with them on Christmas Eve. Then I can celebrate with other people on actual Christmas.” Sockman went on to say that people in his family will chase each other as they run around the Christmas tree.
“We do a couple things differently because my family is Filipino,” said ESU junior, Andrea Gasgonia. “Instead of wreaths, we put up star lanterns (parols).” Gasgonia’s family always wakes up at midnight on Christmas to open presents.
Opening presents at midnight isn’t exclusive to just Gasgonia’s family. Melanie Reynoso and Leilani Chacon Flores’ families also share this tradition. According to Reynoso, opening presents at midnight is common in Hispanic cultures.
In Estra Rusiecki’s case, it is the exact opposite. “We can’t open our gifts until the end of Christmas,” she stated. Rusiecki’s family follows many Polish traditions in their celebration of Christmas.
“We have a strange tradition associated with superstition. We like to put dry fish scales in our purses and wallets,” she added. Estra went on to say that there’s a belief that doing this will help save money.
“If there’s anything that’s my favorite,” Rusiecki continued. “It’s being the only patient one in the room. Usually there’s family over, and the kids want to open their gifts.”
Christmas is a perfect time for all sorts of cultural cuisines. Rusiecki’s family abstains from eating meat for the whole week leading up to Christmas day. They follow pescatarian diets during the fast. Dried Kompot is a popular Polish dish eaten around Christmas time. “We take fruits that we dry and boil them after the drying process. It’s like a fruit punch,” Rusiecki said.
Chacon’s family often eats chicken and rice with molé, which is a Mexican sauce. Frable’s family always eats pizza croissants on Christmas day from a bakery in New Jersey.
Sophomore Erica Littlejohn’s family gets together a week before Christmas to make an assortment of cookies and chicken croquettes. Their family hosts Christmas at her uncle’s church. “As all of the kids are getting older, we get to help with the preparation now,” she said. “There’s been a fun shift.”