The Observer, December 8, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 13
A Fresh Perspective: Spreading holiday cheer lightens finals
Another semester is on the close, and the student population grows more and more exhausted. The threat of final exams weighs upon us, and all of our final projects and papers are suddenly due within days of each other. During this time, we all become anti-social and either retreat to our rooms or camp out in the library to get all of our work done. If silence is disturbed, angry snaps and retorts are instantly heard. How ironic that this takes place during the holiday season, when love and community abound (or at least are supposed to).
How then do we combat this, the antithesis of the holiday spirit? How can we spread the cheer and joy that belongs while still accomplishing all that needs to be done?
First of all, make your dorm an atmosphere of community. Decorate your hallways or common rooms with festive adornments. Even if it is nothing but a lowly "Happy Holidays" sign on an index card taped to your door, that index card may be enough to brighten someone's season. Call me sappy and sentimental, but my floor recently purchased a fake tree and put it up in our common room, calling it the "Tree of Unity." This simple action has done so much for us as a floor. We were already pretty close, but the act of putting up the tree, and hand-decorating our own ornaments together brought us closer. Now when you open the door to our floor and see the paper chains, snowflakes and decorated tree, your mood is immediately lifted. Small, seemingly insignificant details like this can do wonders for combating the exam state of mind.
Secondly, make conscious efforts to change your own attitude. If you are in the library or your room and someone does disturb the peaceful, silent work atmosphere, instead of responding with a snide retort, ask them nicely to remain silent. Most people will respond better to kindness than rudeness, and the offender will probably apologize and quiet down. Maybe you even did a good deed by getting that person refocused on their work. Who knows?
The holiday season does not have to be stressful at all. If anything, it should be used as an escape from the stresses of finishing a semester. No matter what your religious beliefs may be, the holiday season is a time to grow closer to your friends and family and to celebrate what we have, not a time to let negativity and pessimism take over us. Good luck to everybody on their finals, and happy holidays.
Hershberger is a freshman Communication Sciences major involved with University Singers and Marching Band.
