The holiday season is here and AV students are very excited to spread holiday cheer with their peers. Amador is a very diverse campus which implies varied family holiday traditions. Some students have family traditions that they have been following for many years. Others just make plans to spend time with family and friends.

There is so much in common when it comes to specific holiday traditions. However, there are many different ways people celebrate them which differs from person to person. Some people have exclusive traditions that their family has been doing for generations while others create new ones throughout the year.

While celebrating the holidays with family and friends is fun, taking a look at how others in the community are celebrating is very exciting to see.

“Walking the streets of downtown Pleasanton and the neighborhood in general is something me and my friends enjoy doing” said Rachana Baskar (‘19). The holiday decor in the neighborhood and downtown has always been visually pleasing for students and everyone.

Most people also prefer to travel during the holidays. Getting together with distant family is how many students choose to spend their holidays. “I travel with my family to meet my distant relatives and spend a couple days with them” said Keerthi Kalyaan (‘22). Apart from visiting family, some people just travel and visit several places for the holiday season. Many travel to different continents to see how people in the world choose to spend their holidays.

“Our family travels to India for most of winter break and it is amazing to see how their way of spending the holidays is completely different from the traditional American way.” said Anika De (‘19).

Apart from all the other things people do, something that is signature to the holiday season is decorating the tree. Whether with friends or family, decorating the tree is always a strenuous but extremely fun task that everybody looks forward to doing.

Sitting around and chatting with people while figuring out how the tree needs to look is one of the many things that make the holiday season special for families.

There are many special drinks and food that come out only during the holidays. “I bake chocolate chip cookies and drink hot chocolate specifically during the holidays.” said Rachana Baskar (‘19)

Anyhow, when speaking of the holidays, there is little to no similarities in how people celebrate their time off. There are several and diverse traditions that people follow, but it all comes down to having fun and a productive time with family and friends.