Celebrating Holidays in Quarantine
We asked students and teachers how they celebrated the holidays amidst a pandemic and if they made a New Year’s resolution.
January 25, 2021
Michelle Finck, Spanish Instructor
“I celebrated Christmas at my parent’s house with my brother and sister. We usually go out to a nice dinner and a Christmas Eve midnight church service, but we stayed home this year, ordered takeout, and played board games. We usually invite all of our extended family on Christmas Day but we kept it just to the nuclear family this year.
Similarly, my lifelong friend group has a tradition where we all get together on the 23rd at a popular restaurant downtown, people watch and see all the people we went to high school with.
This year, we got together over Zoom instead. We had a PowerPoint party and sent each other takeout and drinks using Uber Eats.
We all had fun despite the circumstances and talked about how we are participating in history in the making!”
“My New Year’s Resolution is to floss more! I did not choose this on account of the pandemic; it is just an important way to avoid cavities!”
Aden Meisel, Sophomore
“This year instead of having a traditional holiday gathering for the eight nights of Chanukah, we celebrated with just my family and a few close friends. In terms of logistically celebrating the holiday, many of our traditions remained the same and were not influenced by the pandemic. Even though we could not have grandparents or relatives show, we were still able to celebrate.”
“Despite there being a pandemic, my New Year’s resolution is more goal-oriented and has nothing to do with COVID-19. My New Year’s resolution is to earn my diving certificate so that once we are able to travel again, I can dive in the open ocean.”
Jackson Baltes, Freshman
“I celebrated my holiday break the same way I would have celebrated it in a normal year. Considering my family usually does not have relatives come for Christmas, the occasion felt rather normal.
Although my family and I did not have people over, we took all safety pre-cautions possible when leaving our house, resulting in what I can describe as a “pre-apocalyptic” vibe.”
“I made two resolutions for 2021. First to Climb Mt. Aconcagua in the Andes. Second, to eat a healthier and more sustainable diet, both of which were not influenced by the pandemic. However, the pandemic may influence the outcome of these results.”
