Winter Break Wonders as Retold By Students
The month of December can be thrilling for many reasons: decorating for the upcoming holidays, partaking in winter weather activities such as ice skating, and shopping for gifts for loved ones. For high school students, the month of December brings a much-needed two-week holiday break, containing Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, and an abundance of free time for individuals to do whatever they please. With the two-week vacation granted to students, what did they do in their free time?
Without seven hours every day being dedicated to classes during the week, the 24-hour day seemed to lengthen. For some, winter break offered the perfect opportunity to hang out with individuals outside of the school environment.
Arianna Swanson explained, “Over break, I was involved in a lot of family traditions. Every year, my family watches Polar Express and A Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve. We also make a special Italian dish called arancini for New Year’s Eve.”
Similar to Arianna, Kloey Brown decided to share her free time with friends:
“I hung out with Lily Roseboom and Hadley Montague. We shopped at Target and Tanger Outlets. On top of that, we tried the slushies from the new Meijer gas station, which were really good.”
The holiday break also gave way for some students to try new things or accomplish goals in honor of the year ending.
“I was asked to commission a mural for the lobby of my dance studio,” said junior Carly Hadaway, “I started it about a month ago and finally finished it over break.”
As a foreign exchange student from Finland, senior Wilma Lillsunde is constantly experiencing new things while living in Caledonia.
She explained, “I went to Frankenmuth with my host family and visited the biggest Christmas store in the world. That was really fun.”
Lastly, the 2021 winter break brought the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Tickets were sold out for the first few days following the premiere, and Colin Martinek was one among many filling the movie theater seats.
He said, “I couldn’t tell if my tears were tears of joy or sadness. It was amazing and I enjoyed (mostly) every minute of it.”
For most students, the 2021 holiday break was one to remember… was yours?
