Although the holiday season often evokes mental images of Christmas trees, Hanukkah menorahs and other religious symbols, many Northwestern students say they view the season as a time for enjoying more secular traditions.
For the past six years, Medill freshman Kate Tresley and her mother have stayed together at the Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago for a weekend right before Christmas.
Their activities have included seeing “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” starring Jim Carrey, attending the play “A Christmas Carol” at the Goodman Theatre and shopping for Christmas presents.
“It started off because my dad and brother are golf nuts, and they started going to Florida over a weekend in December, so my mom and I decided to do something fun too,” Tresley said. “We go to dinner at the Walnut Room in Marshall Fields because they do the themed tree and windows that they’re famous for.”
Tresley said she recognizes the importance of such holiday traditions and looks forward to her big weekend in the city each year.
“It’s fun because it really puts you in the Christmas spirit,” she said. “The city’s gorgeous at Christmas time, with all the lights and the decorations and the snow.”
Speech senior Cheley Young’s holiday tradition involves spending time with her father in Cincinnati. In past years they have visited a display of motorized miniature trains and window-shopped.
“It’s time I get to spend with my father,” Young said. “He’s a very busy man. Every time that I get to spend with him is a blessing. It just kind of reaffirms the love that my family has.”
Although Young said she has a strong faith in her religion, she finds purpose in all holiday-time traditions.
“Traditions are good because they light something inside you,” Young said. “Whether the tradition is secular or sacred, it’s important that you have them. I enjoy traditions because they light a fire inside.”
Rather than going downtown, Weinberg senior Peter Norris said he likes to explore the great outdoors with his members of his family.
He said he enjoys such activities as sledding with his relatives, including his parents and siblings.
“There’s a hill kind of by my house, not too far away,” Norris said. “We’ve got big toboggans to hold two or three people in there.”
Holiday customs often revolve around the family, but for some students quality time with the family does not even require leaving the house.
Although some prefer the traditional holiday movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Weinberg sophomore Simone Peart and her family have watched “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” each year for as long as she can remember.
“It’s the funniest movie ever,” Peart said. “We’ve seen it like millions of times, but it’s still incredibly funny to us.”
Satisfying their sense of humor may be custom for some, but others choose to indulge their appetites. Potato pancakes for Hanukkah or a Christmas goose aren’t always on the menu, however.
“Since I’m Jewish, my family normally orders Chinese food on Christmas day, ” Music junior Cory Hills said.
