December began last Friday and the holiday shopping season is already in full force, but is Dec. 5 too early to get into the holiday spirit? While some are already decorating Christmas trees and hanging up lights, others are too busy with final exams to kick back with glasses of egg nog just yet.
"It's hard to be excited about anything during finals," junior Cicie Sattarnilasskorn said.
However, Sattarnilasskorn would rather complete her tests before, rather than after, ripping open her presents. "Once [the semester is] over, it's really cool to have the holiday season. It's easy to get into the spirit right after finals are over," she said. "I can't imagine having finals after Christmas because it would be such a damper on the whole holiday."
Students associate this time of the year with major tests and papers rather than the holidays. "Finals just make you forget about Christmas," sophomore Moira Murphy-cairns said. "You just get so wrapped up in [the finals] that you forget about all the little traditions and customs behind the holiday."
Affiliate Chaplain Greg Fung with the Tufts Christian Fellowship (TCF) also notices this phenomenon. "Other than finals, [the season] has a lot to do with families. My impression is that [finals period] is a distraction. When finals are over, [students] can jump fully into the holiday season," he said.
Though finals may put a damper on the holiday season for some, others have already started buying presents and decorating their houses. "I think it's cool to see people really getting into the holiday season," Sattarnilasskorn said.
Being away from home and family at this time of year also makes it more difficult to get into the holiday spirit. There's just something about a dorm room that doesn't feel quite as homey.
"I think it's definitely harder to get into the Christmas spirit at school without the traditional things," Murphy-cairns said. "There are a few things that help, like the Catholic Center's Christmas Caroling next Sunday."
For those celebrating Chanukah, the schedule has been kind this year. While many winters, the eight-day holiday falls right in the middle of finals, this year it will begin on Dec. 21, the second-to-last day of finals period.
"It's really great that it doesn't happen to conflict this year. Christians are always able to celebrate the holiday with their families, and it's a treat that we're able to celebrate most of Chanukah at home this year," said junior Heather Barondess.
While traditional New England winters may also put many in the holiday spirit, not everyone connects the holidays with cold weather and roaring fires. Though some couldn't imagine a Christmas without snowmen, sledding, and ice skating, people from warmer climates have to be a little more creative in showing their spirit.
"People here on the East Coast totally associate snow with the Christmas holiday season and I was never exposed to that. Christmas was always warm," Sattarnilasskorn, who hails from outside of Los Angeles, Calif., said.
Sattarnilasskorn relates a story that illustrates the ways in which West Coasters improvise on traditional holiday customs. "I was driving down the street and there was a family who put a snowman in their front yard made out of tumbleweed. They spray painted it white and decorated it. I thought that was really cute," she said.
Not everyone looks forward to the upcoming holiday season, however. "I hate Christmas," sophomore Matt Alford said. "It's a high stress, unenjoyable time of year for everyone."
Murphy-cairns agrees that it's harder to get into the spirit while at school. "I don't think anybody around here really gets excited about the holidays- people just get excited to go home," she said.
Alford asserts that Christmas seems devoid of its original meaning. "I think my biggest problem with it is that people try so hard to create the perfect Christmas that Christmas has lost all of its meaning," he said.
Fung, in his affiliation with the TCF, has found quite the opposite. He found the Christmas spirit alive and well within his organization and among some Christian students on campus. "[Students] go caroling to nursing homes, bringing generosity to the area, particularly to an area that is under served," Fung said, identifying this time of year with a "spirit of thankfulness and generosity."
In Fung's experience, some students take the holiday quite seriously. "I know students who come from a high church tradition background who have struggled to bring that here. Tufts isn't a place where tradition is obvious, so they have to celebrate their own church traditions either by promoting it among friends or finding [similar] churches," he said.
Russell Capone contributed to this article.
