What is the meaning of Christmas to Students at Greater Latrobe?

Willow Murphy, Staff Writer

December 15, 2023

Everyone knows what happens on Christmas, the tale of Christmas is reinforced year after year through animated television shows and carols sung. You put out cookies and milk, everyone in your house goes to sleep, and then Santa Claus comes and gives you and your family gifts under your lit and decorated tree. But the time of the season is also very personal; it means something different to everyone!

Junior Ethan Haydo sums up his perspective of the holiday like this– “Christmas is the time and season of giving, to show love and childlike wonder.” Indeed, the older you grow the twinkling lights and the wrapping paper still conveys that sense of childhood.

We gather with family. We are safe and secure. “Christmas is all about showing the people you love just how much you love them, sometimes with gifts. Sometimes with hugs, get-togethers, or food,” said Junior Bailey Olson. Her observation truly encapsulates the familiar aspect of the season.

Let us not forget the inherent religiosity of this season. “The meaning of Christmas is different for everyone, but during my upbringing it has always meant the gift of Jesus being born,” said Eva Desanders, a Junior, observing the true genesis of this holiday. It is, after all, the Mass of Christ, and no matter what you believe, Jesus is why we have this day of celebration and Robert Long concurs. “To celebrate Jesus’s birthday with my family,” as Senior Robert Long sums it up.

In fact, family, whether it be your family or the Holy Family, is what makes so many memories and conjures the spirits of the past as we reminisce about opening presents under a tree. “Spending time with your family and friends to relax,”according to Michael Naggy.

The consumerism of the days leading up to Christmas is over, and the stress fades away as the last bow is packed up. Then comes time for the food! Many of us gather, multiple generations sitting at the table “eating yummy food, spending time with family, and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ,” is the way Jacob Cramer explains his outlook.

Christmas is about family. Yours. Mine. Everyone. It is about a family two thousand years ago and it’s about your family in 2023. It’s about goodwill and celebration, about angels heard on high and your dad singing off tune to Christmas songs in the car. It is about stress and debt and confusion, but it is also about the smile on children’s faces and grandma dozing on the couch as you watch “Elf.” Abigail Constantine stated the day this way– it is “family, gift giving, and quality time.” These shared memories bring us closer together and bands us in a unique culture of Christmas.

About the Contributor

Willow Murphy, Staff Writer

Willow Murphy is a senior at Greater Latrobe High School. This is her first year in multimedia journalism which makes this her first year doing The High Post. She is a very academically focused student recognized by the National Honors Society. Willow is interested in writing about the student life at Greater Latrobe during her last year of high school to express how high school can be an intense yet enjoyable experience to everyone. She is planning on attending college after high school in hopes to study biology. Willow has always had a passion for writing stories and since this is her last year to write for The High Post she decided to express herself publicly. Her favorite endeavors is to learn about the world through traveling and opening her mind by experiencing the world. She tends to spend much of her down time with family and friends, doing mundane activities such as board games and simply sitting at home watching tv to more adventurous pursuits such as hiking cliff walks in Rhode Island or exploring more urban environs like Dallas and Boston. Willow is planning on going to college in a New England state due to her love for New England and the various schools she has toured. Her passion for traveling has allowed her to meet new people and see so many different places at a young age. Willow’s love for traveling is always accompanied by family and friends. Willow has been to several different schools because of her family moving around when she was younger, but has been settled down in the Latrobe school district since she was in eighth grade. She knows what it is like to be a new kid in school and wants to use this writing platform to illustrate to new kids or incoming freshmen that Greater Latrobe is a family and that you can find a home anywhere, whether it be in clubs, sports, or the student section. Her main goal is to leave a positive impact on others by writing on The High Post.