Andres Trevino ’17

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Amidst all of the stress that come with finals week, it is easy to forget that Christmas is waiting right around the corner, a time for family, friends, and food.

At Strake Jesuit we are blessed to have a multitude of different cultures with different traditions and plans for Christmas.

Being of Mexican descent, my family always experiences Christmas as a crazy time. From the sixteenth of December to Christmas Eve, my family has Posadas, gatherings where we pray the Rosary in Spanish and then eat together as a family. Each immediate family within our large family hosts one Posada at their house. On Christmas Eve we all kiss the forehead of the Infant Jesus and open presents at midnight. We also make too many tamales to count for our meal.

Alejandro Schwartz, class of 2017, is Cuban and told me about some his traditions. He said, “Every year my family and I cook a pig for Christmas dinner. It’s a really fun experience.” Alejandro also told me that he believes that Christmas is the most important holiday for getting together with his family since many of them live in different cities and even countries.

About his plans for Christmas, Christian Gomez, also from the class of 2017, told me, “Me and my Family go skiing every year in Aspen. It helps us bond and actually see some snow.” Christian also told me that he will be extremely anxious this Christmas because he will be getting letters back from colleges.

Michael Ayala, another senior, told me,” Every year my family gets together at my grandfather’s house, and we eat Bolgogi, which is a Korean type of steak.” Michael also hopes during Christmas to get into all the colleges he applied to and to see old relatives.

Christmas can be extremely stressful for many reasons; however, we should never forget to be thankful for all of our friends and family, and for all the things we have been blessed with in our lives. Christmas is truly the most wonderful time of the year.