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Every year I hear the phrase “The holidays just aren’t fun anymore.”

Growing up, September through December were always my favorite months of the year. I hated summer — I found it boring and the heat and humidity made the season miserable. Spring was just a sad (and rainy) reminder that my favorite season was over and my least was quickly approaching.

My fondest memories were centered around these months, but as I entered college, my feelings surrounding this time of year turned from joy to dread.

In September, I would walk through the park with my younger sister to see the leaves change into a beautiful array of red and orange. We did this before picking apples at the local farm that my mother would later use to make homemade apple cider donuts out of.

In October, my friends and I would sneak into the basement to watch horror movies my father would certainly disapprove of. We would turn them off, horrified, and to take our minds off of what we saw, we would discuss our elaborate group Halloween costume and all of the candy we planned to collect while trick-or-treating.

During November, we would go to the pumpkin patch to make a new pumpkin pie each week and chase turkeys in the backyard, and then spend a week down south doing nothing but eating our family’s infamous carrot souffle and playing football with cousins who I had never seen before.

December was a month long full of holiday cheer. My parents decorated the entire house and had various cookies out on the kitchen table at all times. During the week, my classmates and I would show up to school in our pajamas and drink hot cocoa during indoor recess. On the weekends, we would write long (and outrageous) letters to Santa Claus and end the night in front of the television arguing on whether to watch “Home Alone” or “Elf.”

When I got to college, September and October were no longer filled with apple picking, baking and trick-or-treating. Instead, I was bogged down by midterms, group projects and extracurriculars. November and December are stressful, used to catch up on all the work you’ve missed before finals rather than to relax and celebrate with family and friends.

Being away from home for most of the holiday season my freshman year was an adjustment. I saw the lack of apple desserts in the dining hall and very few people actually acknowledged it was Halloween (during the day, at least). Having to work on assignments during Thanksgiving break and studying for finals just weeks away from December’s holidays was depressing. While it all might sound a bit silly, my favorite season slowly became miserable.

I spent most of my freshman fall semester saddened by both others’ and my own newfound lack of interest in the holiday season. When I voiced this to my friends in the spring, they all agreed with the common sentiment simply being “The holidays just aren’t fun anymore and they haven’t been since we were kids, but what can we do?”

There were two parts about this that frustrated me.

The holidays have been seen as only enjoyable for children, which is something I never gave into until I came to college. I mean, it’s embarrassing to admit but I believed in Santa Claus until middle school and I didn’t stop trick-or-treating until COVID-19 forced me to. My own parents push back against this stereotype every year — they go on dates to pick apples and pumpkins, they dress up each Halloween and watch “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on repeat each year.

And there’s also this idea that we can’t do anything about the holidays not being fun anymore. Throughout my life, I’ve realized all of these fun activities have been things that have been organized for me by parents, teachers and the other adults in my life. It was expected that we could go apple picking, decorate the house or have an annual holiday party at school. There was little work to be done on my part but now that I’m an adult, the responsibility to bring back holiday joy is mine almost entirely.

When I came back to school sophomore year, I packed a bag full of holiday decor for my dorm and put them up for each appropriate season. I made a few trips to Beak and Skiff and forced my friends to participate in every fall themed event organizations like Orange After Dark put on. This year, my friends and I decided to put on a Friendsgiving dinner, making dishes that reminded us of home. My roommates had weekly horror movie nights and we are currently planning a December gift exchange, giving us all something to look forward to in the midst of finals season.

Before, I didn’t have to seek out events, research places to go to or plan activities because all of that was done for me. It’s easy for the holidays to be fun when there’s nothing for you to do but show up. The holiday season should be a time to connect with loved ones and engage in activities that you can’t always do during the rest of the year.

The holidays are just beginning so plan that trip to the pumpkin patch, host a themed movie night, decorate your dorm or apartment or maybe just eat a pie. As we get older, we have to be willing to take an active role to recreate that holiday “magic” and fun for ourselves, however that may look for you.

Kaitlyn Paige is a junior studying Public Relations. Her column appears bi-weekly, and she can be reached at kipaige@syr.edu.

Published on November 26, 2023 at 10:19 pm