Christmas

With the arrival of the 2020 Christmas season, many are looking back at previous Christmases, hoping to find some happiness and nostalgia to get them through the final stretching of this year. For many Redhawks, like sophomore Joanna Boss, the Christmas season brings up memories of family traditions in the kitchen.

“Every Christmas Eve my family will make Christmas cookies to leave out for santa, as well as make food for the reindeer,” Joanna said via text. “We used to sprinkle a very precise mixture of glitter and oats onto the yard, wanting to make sure the reindeer were well fed. On Christmas we would make sure to check Santa’s cookies and milk before opening presents or stockings, always delighted to find a few crumbs and an empty glass.”

Making cookies isn’t the only staple of the holiday for some students. For junior Juan Arce, some of the best Christmas memories come from the giving of gifts.

“Last year I was doing a secret Santa with my sister’s friends when I was given my gift. A little girl came up to me and said, ‘here you go’” Juan said via text. “It was nothing special, just a gift card, but when I asked how much was on it she just said, ‘I don’t know my mom just said to give this to you’ She said this in the most innocent voice and it just killed me. To me it was the funniest thing ever.”

Spending time with family and giving gifts are some of the many memories people have about the holiday season. For boys’ assistant basketball coach Ben Manning, the childhood tradition of visiting family is a great source of Christmas nostalgia.

“Well some of the less singular ones are just always going to Lubbock, where my grandma lived. And a lot of the time, there was snow up there on Christmas so always remember having some white Christmases up there in Lubbock,” Manning said. “So, and just visiting her was always really fun. She was one of my favorite people to visit, and then a more singular memory was my other grandma. My mom and dad got my brother and I, a couple of bikes so brand new bikes and they hit them. Like in the outside tool shed or whatever and we had to go around a little scavenger hunt for clues and we eventually made it out there and found our bikes and that was that was really fun.”