Noelle Adler

“There’s no place like home for the holidays…”

For as long as we can remember, carols have urged us to spend to spend Christmas at home. Families are reunited–kids come home from college, relatives gather for Christmas dinner, and everyone gets to enjoy unique traditions with the people they love.

So, I have a hard time understanding why some Staples Students find “Christmas” synonymous with “Jamaica.”

No, I’m not talking about those who don’t celebrate the holiday. I’m talking about  Christians, who, as soon as Santa Claus comes to town, decide to leave. As someone who looks forward to the Season all year, this doesn’t really make sense to me.

Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Although the acutal celebration of Christmas on Dec. 25 is exhilarating, preparation at home is incomparable.  A family trip to the Audubon Society or Stew Leonard’s is a must to select the perfect tree from the copious Douglas firs, spruces and frasers.

Going through boxes of ornaments and hearing my parents tell all the stories associated with them as we decorate the tree is just as important as opening all the presents underneath the tree on Christmas morning. Going to church on Christmas Eve, Christmas dinner, leaving a note and cookies for Santa…all of these traditions contribute to my family’s idea of a traditional Christmas and all require us to be home for the holidays.

But if you’re not even going to be home…is there even a point for all of this preparation? Why deck the halls if you won’t even be in them to enjoy? In my opinion, we “homebodies” have the better deal. However, for some, it makes sense to go away, like Hannah Myers ’14, who will be going to Big Sky in Montana for 10 days during Christmas break.

“This is the only vacation that everyone in my family can take together because of my sister’s college schedule,” she says. “I am very excited to go away. Our cousins who live in California are meeting us out there and I love skiing out West. It’s going to be amazing!” Myers is planning on celebrating and opening presents the weekend before with her family.

Sage Watterworth ’14 disagrees. “Being on a warm beach is the perfect change from the cold winter here,” she says. Watterworth has spent the past four Christmases in Jamaica. “I don’t miss much. I’m still with my family so that’s all that matters at Christmas.”Still, it’s not the same. I can’t imagine a house during the holidays with wreath-less doors, a tree-less living room, and dark, candle-less windows. And if you’re off tanning somewhere on December 24th, you might miss a Christmas Eve snowfall.

I suppose everyone has his or her own way of celebrating. But one thing’s for sure:

I’ll be home for Christmas.