Traditions are a big part of most family’s holidays. Some are strange, others more common, but in the end they are all just a part of the holidays.

Freshman, Christine Van Kirk and her family have some traditions during the holiday season. “I love Christmas traditions,” Van Kirk said. “Especially when it is snowing. Then I can have snowball fights with my siblings and friends. One of my favorite Christmas traditions is drinking lots of hot chocolate. We also always help my grandma cook Christmas dinner, which is always super fun. I also love going caroling. All of these traditions make the holidays so much better, and without them I wouldn’t have as much fun.”

Some families go to the same place every year as a tradition. Freshman, Peter Paulus’s family visits a certain city every year for the holidays. “Every year we go to Fort Worth,” Paulus said. “We usually go on Christmas Eve. There is always a party at my aunt’s house that my whole family attends. I definitely have traditions that I like and ones that I don’t like. My favorite Christmas tradition is that I get to open a present on Christmas Eve. If there is one thing I don’t like it’s having to go to swim practice on Christmas Day.”

Some people don’t have any different traditions, but even the simple things are traditions too. Freshman, Emily Wright loves her classic traditions. “I don’t really have any extraordinary traditions,” Wright said. “Every year my parents and I go to either Hawaii or New York. Beside that, I think we basically do all the same things that other families do during Thanksgiving and Christmas. We open presents Christmas morning, and have Christmas dinner as a family.”

As for myself, I have relatively normal traditions. We have a few traditions that are a little different. For example, my whole family goes to my grandma’s house on Christmas Eve. We eat dinner, then we open our presents from her and the rest of our extended family.

All families have traditions, but they become prevalent during the holidays. Having these traditions make the holidays so much more special.