A junior sits in the silence of their classroom during her third final exam of the day, already burned out, she starts to reminisce about a time when the week before winter break meant cozy pjs, candy canes, hot cocoa and watching the “Polar Express.” But now when winter break is approaching, it is just studying until midnight and taking exams all day long.
The last two days of school before winter break are final exam days which means students have to work tirelessly to prepare and study in the week before. Even in the days before finals the teachers don’t have anything fun for the students to look forward to. In most classes, especially for juniors, there are unit tests and quizzes to do right before finals days. The week before winter break is full of stress when it should be full of fun and holiday cheer.
Even the school environment doesn’t bring any excitement for the holiday season. “I haven’t seen any Christmas decorations, so that’s disappointing,” says English and broadcast teacher John Aubert. Despite the door decorating contest results, the lack of decor in classrooms and hallways doesn’t make it feel like Christmas is right around the corner.
It just doesn’t feel the same as it did when we were young, which could be a part of growing up, but it just doesn’t seem right for us to ignore the holidays. We don’t have any events for Christmas itself at school, the cocoa cram that we do is for studying rather than enjoying time with friends before winter break. MCHS just doing a little something festive for the students would make students’ holiday spirit rise.
“We used to do a bunch of fun stuff before Christmas, but now it’s all tests and stuff,” says Tennyson Gordillo, “I don’t want to even bother showing up if we’re just going to sit there and do study guides.”
MCHS should bring back the kinds of fun activities that make happy holiday memories for the students. If we had Christmas lights in some hallways, door decorating competitions during aim, Christmas movies during study halls, or candy canes when we walk in, then maybe students would have better moods and even better attendance before winter break begins.
As the student walks out of the building to her freezing car, she can finally relax now that it is officially winter break. She turns on the radio, listening to Christmas music as she drives home, but she feels unfulfilled this year because Christmas just doesn’t feel the same anymore. Were the good grades worth sacrificing her happiness before the holidays?