During finals season, most students find themselves in some café, library, or secret study spot buried within their books and overwhelmed with stress. With campus and the city of Montreal under a healthy layer of snow, all of the familiar feelings of stress can combine with the melancholy of the gloomy weather to create an overall atmosphere of pressure and unhappiness.
Looming on the horizon just out of reach is the holiday break— which, for many, means a trip back home to family and a joyful return to all of the holiday traditions. But what are we supposed to do in the meantime?
This period of limbo can feel incredibly isolating especially as it coincides with the holiday season. Whether you were born and raised a few minutes away from campus or you are an international student far away from home, there’s often a collective sense of struggle during the holiday season. More than any other time of year, it is almost required to appear happy, even if you’re on your last leg because of finals season. This, combined with the 4 pm sunsets, can make anyone want to scorn all holidays and become a Scrooge.
Regardless, ever since Mariah Carey defrosted the day after Halloween, there has been an element of holiday cheer in the air. For some, Christmas starts as early as the day after Remembrance Day and for others, the holiday festivities cannot begin until they taste their mother’s cookies. Given the vastly diverse student experiences of the holiday season at McGill, the Daily spoke with a few different students about the differences between their experiences with the holiday season at home and at McGill, in hopes that we can find community in our similar experiences.
One of the most beautiful things about spending the holidays with your family is being able to repeat traditions that have gone on year after year. Max, a U0 student in the management faculty, discussed how he celebrates Hanukkah with his dad and Christmas with his mom. For Max, Hanukkah isn’t complete without all the “traditional foods” and “ceremonial traditions” and his family all together in a huge night of celebration and “gift giving.” Where Hanukkah might be a bit more lowkey, Christmas celebrations make up for it as Max’s family “goes all out.” For Max, Christmas morning goes a little something like this: “Once everyone is up, we open stockings. Then we eat a huge breakfast with homemade cinnamon buns made by my grandma and brother. After breakfast we start with gifts, opening them one by one, going from oldest to youngest.” These traditions and spending time with family is Max’s favorite part about the holidays, even if he feels like as he’s gotten older “some of the magic has waned.” Regardless, Max points out that “seeing family and eating great food is always so fulfilling.”
For many international students, this break will be the first time they see their family since August. Because of this, this makes them even more eager to spend the holidays with family and finally be able to see everyone again. Mary Lou, an international student from Switzerland, expressed her excitement for the holiday season since she will finally be able to return home. Most of all, she is most excited to spend time with her family on Christmas Day when she goes to see her entire family in France, which she remarked is “super fun… exchanging presents and seeing everyone.”
Anna, a first year Toronto native, expressed her difficulty with the holiday season, “The winter is a very hard time for me, but I am happy and grateful there is something I get to look forward to — spending time with the people I love (family, friends), feelings of wholesomeness, community, joy, winter activities, etc.” More than anything, Anna emphasized the potential for McGill to become a community that makes the holiday season more enjoyable. She says, “However, fostering a broader sense of community, like at McGill, gives us the opportunity to redefine what holidays mean to us all. So, I am excited to use my opportunity as a first-year student at McGill during the holidays and make it one full of love while prioritizing my mental health.”
Carys, an out-of-province student from Newfoundland, expressed similar thoughts. Though she feels like she hasn’t exactly found a huge community at McGill during the holidays, she shares that she celebrates the holidays “in a very personal sense and doesn’t really require other people to celebrate. If anything, I do miss some Newfoundland traditions that happen at Christmas but even that hasn’t bothered me very much.” Even though being away from home can make for a terrible holiday season, Carys doesn’t allow it to prevent her from enjoying all the festivities. When talking about how the holidays make her feel in one word, Carys said “excited”. She described the emotion as “a type of excitement that I feel so rarely as I get older, Christmas makes me feel like I can experience the world as vividly as I did as a child.”
Even though most students are returning home for this break, if you need ideas on how to feel the holiday spirit while still in Montreal, there are so many different things you can do. Even if you’ve done it every year, a Christmas or winter market is always a great option. There are several different markets all around the city, so you can hit them all, or enjoy one. They all pretty much have the same things: hot chocolate, excellent food, gifts and trinkets, and holiday cheer. Another great way to build community is to have a gift exchange or white elephant party with your friends. Not only would you get a great gift out of it, but you would also be directly investing in your friendships. Lastly, and my favorite way to celebrate the season, is to do winter activities like ice skating, sledding in fresh snow, and making snow angels.
I think that the holiday season is as complicated as any other season of our lives. In this sense, we are navigating the most difficult part of the school year while being away from family, and all the while we’re supposed to be having a good time— and the thing is, we do! The holiday season is meant to be a beautiful bow tied at the very end of the year. It’s important to come together as a McGill family and experience the joy of the season while being cognizant of how heavy this season is for many. The holiday season is a time to celebrate all that we have accomplished, be thankful for all that we have, and be hopeful for an even better year next year.
Happy Holidays!