As we move out of the holiday season, Haldane students have time to reflect back on their holiday breaks. When asked about their favorite part of the holidays, students’ responses ranged from gift-giving to spending time with family, each response revealing a sense of nostalgia for their holiday breaks as younger children.
As you grow up, the holiday experience shifts drastically. Senior Dahlia Beck stated, “as you grow up, [holiday break] sort of loses that energy.” Instead of marveling at the Christmas lights and snowfall on the mountain, many high school students find themselves marveling at the sheer amount of holiday-themed advertisements and the immense amount of money spent on the holidays. In this stage of development, between childhood and adulthood, teenagers are discovering just how much the economy is tied to the holiday season.
“Businesses want people to be buying more and more and more. All these huge businesses are just getting money poured into their pockets,” said Beck. Living in a town that revolves around its small businesses, the public flocking to big businesses to buy holiday gifts is especially relevant. Most advertisements and purchases around the holidays are connected to larger corporations, leading to potentially less revenue for smaller local stores, massively impacting small towns like Cold Spring. Some students, however, find it important to fight against this trend by infusing the holidays with different values beyond consumer purchases. Junior Louise Denehy said, “I think I try to counter some of the modernism… We have to keep some of the old values to keep it from becoming… corporate greed.”
One way Denehy, Beck, and other students have decided to counter the commercialization of the winter holidays is by focusing more on celebrating traditions. Sophomore Eva Hohenberger mentioned enjoying celebrations with her family at lunch on Christmas day every year and the feeling of waking up to presents under the tree. Denehy’s family enjoys decorating the Christmas tree every year on Christmas Eve, an important part of maintaining the holiday traditions that make it feel so magical. Beck’s friend group recently started a new tradition of Secret Santa, bringing excitement back into a seemingly “dulling” holiday spirit.
Haldane students also have varying opinions on the role of religion in holiday celebrations. As teenagers in 2025, many have noticed a gap between their perception of the holidays and their parents. Denehy commented on her mother’s childhood growing up Catholic: “She probably went to church a lot around this time. I do not, but I still enjoy and believe,” she said. Even with a less religious view of the holidays, students can find meaning in their own celebrations. Beck noted that everyone can “celebrate the holidays in the way that they mean the most to you,” whether that be by going to church on Christmas Eve or simply enjoying “a time to be off work.”
Overall, these Haldane students seem to agree that the holidays are a time to celebrate what is special to you as an individual. As Hohenberger put it, “Do what you want to do!”