Now that the holiday season has begun, people from all walks of life are planning festivities to celebrate their cultures. SHU students celebrate in a variety of ways and for different reasons.
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Freshman biophysical therapy major Jenna Eoga said her family celebrates Christmas and all Catholic/American holidays. Eoga said her family is Italian and every Christmas Eve they have the traditional dinner of the seven fishes at her grandma’s. Eoga said her family celebrates Christmas day at either her house or her aunt’s. Eoga said some of her favorite things about the holidays are getting to relax, spending time with family, and going to New York City to see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.
Eoga said the best gift she ever gave someone was a picture of a good high school friend and herself, along with multiple things that help her friend relax, to her friend before they were separated for college.
Eoga said her friend is in Boston while she is at SHU. “It’s like a piece of me went with her,” Eoga said.
Senior public relations major Micalda Francillon said that she celebrates Christmas. Francillon said one tradition she said she has is having a Nerf gun war. Francillon said this tradition started when her son got a Nerf gun for Christmas the first Christmas they spent in their new apartment. The apartment was empty and they ran around having a Nerf war and have had a Nerf war every Christmas since she said.
Francillon said that even though shopping around Christmas is crazy, she loves that people are looking for the perfect gift for someone special. Francillon said she loves the environment of people coming together. She added that two of the best gifts she has received were her IPad and Uggs.
Hershita Kaushik, a senior computer science major, said she celebrates all American and Indian holidays.
Kaushik said one Indian festival that she celebrates is Diwali that normally falls in October/November.
She said she also celebrates Christmas, but not in the traditional way.
Kaushik said during the holidays her family gets together, plays video games, and her nieces and nephews give her goofy makeovers. She continued by saying that the best gift someone ever gave her was given to her by a young child at the Taekwondo School where she teaches at. Kaushik said a young girl came into the school, but wouldn’t step onto the mat to train. Kaushik said when the little girl asked her what she wanted for Christmas she told her she wanted her to step on the mat and train with her.
Kaushik said she pretended to give up and be content with the girl staying in the corner when the little girl stepped away from her mom and onto the mat with Kaushik. She added that little girl is now competing in competitions and is amazing at taekwondo. Kaushik said the best gift she ever gave was bone marrow to a friend who was battling leukemia.
Kaushik said she got tested to see if she was a match and didn’t tell anyone until she found out she was, and told her friend and her family she would give bone marrow just a couple days before Christmas.
Kaushik said, “I’d rather have someone give me their blessings during Christmas time than give me a gift, like a thousand dollar gift, and not have it mean something, but rather give me just one blessing or keep me in their prayer which means the world to me.”
Veronica Gaspa can be reached at veronica.gaspa@student.shu.edu.
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