Amid the stress of hell week and finals, students are finding ways to spread Christmas cheer before leaving for break.

From dorm decorating to off-campus parties, the opportunities to celebrate Christmas are endless and students should take advantage of them, junior Bella Dix said.

“You come to school and make new friends, but we’re only here for seven days of December,” she said. “That gives you a good reason to celebrate Christmas a little bit early.”

In this spirit, the women of Benzing Residence decorated the dorm early in November.

“Typically it’s a rule that there is no Christmas until after Thanksgiving,” junior and Benzing House Director Ruthie Chinery said. “Which is sad at school because then it’s only a week.”

After debating if it was too early, the dorm decided to host a decorating party on Nov. 6.

“We as a resident assistant team at first thought about putting them up before Halloween, but decided that was too early,” Chinery said. “So we waited until the week after.”

Now, the halls of Benzing are decked with paper snowflakes and Christmas trees. Even the lobby piano and the Audrey Hepburn canvas are wrapped in festive paper.

“A little Christmas every day keeps the seasonal depression away,” Chinery said.

Lucia Wilson, a junior resident of Benzing, has been a driving force behind the dorm’s Christmas spirit because of her love for Christmas.

“Christmas is such a great opportunity to come together,” she said. “Benzing has really good dorm culture and I knew I wanted to celebrate Christmas with these girls.”

It started with a Christmas movie during fall break and has turned into one Christmas movie a week.

“My rule is no classic movies until Christmas proper,” Wilson said, “Hallmark and such can be watched as early as October, but none of the classics until later. According to Wilson, there are three things every student

should do to celebrate Christmas.

“Everyone’s room should have something Christmas in it,” Wilson said. “At least one group movie night is necessary, to add the fellowship element. And if it can be managed, cookies must be made.”

As far as tradition goes, Wilson admires old traditions but also wants to build new ones.

“I love how so many people have structured traditions that really can’t be contained,” she said. “But I think the best Christmas events and traditions are sporadic and spontaneous.”

Despite this, Wilson said she and her sister, sophomore Ameera, try to keep her family traditions going even at school.

“I do try to recreate a lot of my family traditions here at school,” Wilson said. “I’m always asking ‘Now that my mom’s not here to do it, how can I recreate these traditions for everyone?’ So I feel like that responsibility falls on me.”

Associate Professor of Theology Jordan Wales said he and his family have many Christmas traditions, most of which occur during the Advent season.

“We decorate our tree on Christmas Eve, which is when we begin listening to carols for the first time also,” he said. “But on the first Sunday of Advent, we bless the Advent wreath; so from early December there begins a kind of pilgrimage toward Christmas.”

For Wales and his family, that journey is marked daily until Christmas day.

“Every day, we move carved wooden lambs – one for each member of the family – along bookshelves and tables until, on Christmas Eve, they reach the manger,” he said. “Beginning with the children, each of us shares some moment of the day through which we felt Jesus drawing us close.”

Dix also said creating new traditions with friends can be a joyful part of the Christmas season, especially at school.

“This year, we decided that we’re going to have a Christmas party,” she said. “Which is a new thing, because in years past, there’s been no space or vibe in the dorm for that.”

Now that Dix lives off campus and has other friends who also do, she has found the freedom to host a larger gathering.

“We’re going to cook together, have a good meal, and watch ‘White Christmas,’” she said. “Christmas is just a good excuse to get together with everyone.”

Freshman Isaiah Joiner also plans to host a Christmas party with friends, but he will wait until after the break, in order to prolong Christmas festivities.

“After Christmas is this time of lingering, where it’s still a snowy season, but technically Christmas is over,” he said. “I want to have something to look forward to in these times, to combat the dreariness.”

Both Dix and Wilson said Christmas is a special time of the year to show love to those around you, especially during the season of finals.

“Obviously, you want to show people you love that you love them all the time,” she said. “But Christmas is such a good reason to do that.”

While some worry that commercialization has a negative effect on Christmas and its traditions, Wales said the true meaning of Christmas can never be lost.

“The meaning of Christmas can’t really be lost because if you take Christ out of Christmas, you still have the human heart’s restlessness, awakened toward love by generosity,” Wales said. “Commercialization wouldn’t work unless human beings, made in the image and likeness of God, retained within them some instinct of self-giving. Commercialization isn’t great but it shows us something.”

Wales said that Christmas time is also a good time to show kindness to one another, especially in the days leading up to break.

“Bring each other a cup of hot chocolate,” Wales said. “Unexpected acts of kindness do help in this period.”

Showing love to fellow students is not only enjoyable, but it is an efficient use of a study break, Wilson said.

“Given the two weeks we have, you need something with joy and something with gratitude to give your brain a break,” she said. “So use this time to spread that joy and be grateful even though there’s so much going on. Don’t break yourself.”

The Christmas season has so much to offer, and students should not let the opportunity to be with friends and to be grateful pass them by, Dix said.

“Open your heart,” Dix said. “This season is such a great reason to be joyful about all the good things in your life. Obviously, the greatest of which is Christ being born, but it’s such a nice reason to be grateful for everything.”