As the holiday season draws closer, Ferris students share their different reasons and ways of celebrating winter holidays.
While the history behind Christmas is known to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the holiday is not limited to those who hold Christian faiths. According to a survey by Pew Research Center, “81% of non-Christians in the United States celebrate Christmas.”
Digital animation and game design junior Reine Carrasquillo grew up in a mixed-religion household. She defines herself as “agnostic,” which means she’s open to the idea of a creator but doesn’t fully believe.
“I don’t deny the existence of a God, but I don’t believe in a specific God either,” Carrasquillo said. “Most of my household is Catholic, but we didn’t have a lot of traditional Catholic values. We would go to church on important holidays and whenever the priest asked where we’ve been.”
While most of Carrasquillo’s family celebrates the birth of Christ, the holiday still holds meaning in family and good memories for those who don’t practice the Christian faith.
“Christmas to me is a time for me to spend time with my family,” Carrasquillo said. “I have family members that come from across the country to visit for the season.”
For Carrasquillo, the holiday season holds a feeling of “nostalgia” and childhood memories. Each year, the family continues to apply traditions from the years past.
“My great grandma would sew us pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve and we would all get together to look at Santa Tracker on my cousin’s computer,” Carrasquillo said. “Now that I’m older, my family has shifted to the tradition of having Christmas-themed pajamas.”
According to Carrasquillo, the distinction between the different reasons for celebrating relies on intention and tradition.
“I think there is some crossover in intentions, but the traditions and meanings are different among religions celebrating the same holiday,” Carrasquillo said. “I also know that there are individual traditions that make religious beliefs unique from each other, and I think that it’s incredibly important for traditions to be explored and learned about.”
Mechanical engineering junior Leo Forestall considers himself non-religious. As someone who does not participate in any religion, Forestall believes he has no reason to celebrate Christmas. For him, spending time with family and friends holds more value than materialistic gifts.
“All [Christmas] does is put economic pressure on people,” Forestall said. “I’ll go to parties and be festive, but as someone who is going to college full time with bills, I am surprised my family expects me to get a present for at least ten people. I also don’t expect any gifts. It would be bad of me to not give anything and expect something in return.”
Manufacturing engineering sophomore Brendon Johnson considers Christmas a time to spend with family and friends and to give and receive gifts while holding tradition in a Christian household.
“I celebrate Christmas because I grew up in a Christian household, and it’s a tradition I don’t want to break,” Johnson said. “I believe that the difference between people who celebrate with religion and those who don’t is that Christians are celebrating the beauty of the time and sharing it with others, and others are celebrating out of good feeling.”