Tis’ the season: How are SU students celebrating the start of the holiday season? 

With Halloween in the past and Thanksgiving just weeks away, Syracuse University students are heading into a busy end of the semester. Between a long list of holidays and the pressure of finals, how are they juggling it all?

The lineup of winter holidays, according to 60 students surveyed by Orange Pulse, spans more than the traditionally religious ones. Thanksgiving, New Year’s, Christmas and Friendsgiving were popular among SU students as well.

Friendsgiving is a popular tradition on SU’s campus, with more than half of surveyed students looking forward to it. Graduate student Cameron Bunger has been planning Friendsgiving celebrations over the last several weeks. 

“My partner and I are actually working on planning a little bonfire in a few weeks,” Bunger said.  “We’ll probably do s’mores, and my buffalo chicken wing dip is a huge hit. We’ll have some drinks and probably sit outside until it gets too cold.” 

Two-thirds of students surveyed live within driving or bus distance from SU’s campus.

For students who call home a short drive away, planning travel around break can be easier to coordinate than for those who fly or live abroad. 

For many students, Friendsgiving is the last chance to see friends before Thanksgiving break sends students in different directions. Bunger, on the other hand, is from Syracuse and doesn’t face that same distance, as their friends from high school and college live close to campus.

“I know a lot of people are away from ‘their people,’ and I consider myself incredibly lucky that everyone I care for basically still lives in my backyard,” they added. 

Other students, like junior Maya Stone, are looking forward to being in the Syracuse area for a taste of winter before going home for the holidays. 

“The start of the season at Syracuse is so fun because there are so many things to do, especially in the winter, with ice skating and sledding,” Stone said. “It definitely helps me get in the mood for the holidays and lets me spend time with my friends.”  

Students surveyed shared that emotions associated with the holidays are mostly bright, with excitement and joy leading the way.

Several winter holidays overlap with students’ exam schedules and final assignments due at the end of the semester, making exhaustion and anxiety prominent feelings among students as well. 

Thirty-seven respondents said exams and schoolwork are the leading causes of stress during the holiday season. Costs associated with travel and gifts followed, with 35 respondents.

Finals run Dec. 10-15, the same stretch when many students are booking travel and shopping for gifts, leaving little room to plan or budget. 

For students celebrating Hanukkah, which begins early this year on Dec. 4, community matters. In addition to celebrations with friends, Hillel, the Jewish student organization, is hosting holiday celebrations on campus.

“I love how Hillel becomes a place if you need somewhere to go for the holidays, especially since Chanukkah starts so early this year,” Stone said.

For seniors like Josh Solomon, uncertainty about what comes after graduation changes how the season feels. 

“The holidays feel different this year because I don’t know where I’ll be living full-time next year,” he said. 

Students who are traveling home for any combination of the holidays say there is a lot to look forward to with family and home friends. 

Solomon is planning to host about 20 relatives with his grandmother traveling from Florida for Thanksgiving this year. 

“At my house, we watch football together and catch up with each other. It is great to see lots of family members I haven’t seen since the summer,” Solomon said. 

For many, the holidays will look different depending on where they’re headed, but many are looking forward to the same thing: time with the people they care about.