UD’s athletes give an insight to their favorite holiday traditions
With the semester winding down, people bundling up, and the smell of hot chocolate in the air, the Christmas season is in full swing. One cannot help but think of family and friends when walking down the Mall as it glistens with lights, bows, and wreaths.
As we approach both the end of the semester and the holidays, it is easy to forget to reflect on the rapidly ending semester and Christmases past. When polling some of the finest athletes at the University of Dallas, they helped remind us to take this season in stride as they described their favorite holiday traditions.
Freshman Aaliyah Jones, a guard on the women’s basketball team, values quality time with her family. She said, “On Thanksgiving, after putting up the Christmas tree, my family and I always get together and go to Santa’s Wonderland in College Station. It’s a tradition that has gone on every year for about five years.” Jones reminds us what the holidays are all about when she says, “We all are thankful for the time we can spend together!”
Senior Adryan Alvarez, another guard on the women’s basketball team, also described her favorite traditions with her family. Alvarez said, “On Christmas Eve, kids have to sing [and] dance for Santa to come at midnight. One of the older cousins would come in dressed as Santa and everyone would open gifts.”
Then Alvarez explained her favorite traditions from Christmas day: “On Christmas day, the whole family would split into two teams and play charades. Menudo and tamales are a must-have during the day; eggnog and canela are a must-have at night.” Alvarez made sure to add that they always say prayers before their meals, keeping the reason for the season in mind.
A couple of athletes from the men’s teams shared their favorite holiday traditions as well. Rex Soulliere, a senior on the men’s golf team, described the unique games his family plays. He said, “Every Christmas we get the family to come up with some trivia questions about funny stories from family trips, historical notes on aunts and uncles and anything you deem worthy to be trivial.” Then his family brings it to the next level by doubling it as white elephant. Soulliere said, “You get a question right, you get a gift or can steal.”
The traditions of our hometowns impact us as well. Martin Lane, a freshman on the cross country team, described the midwest Christmas traditions he and his family take part in, including the Christmas Pickle. He said, “The pickle is hidden in the Christmas tree on the night before Christmas. The first one to find this pickle, [which] for us, it’s just a styrofoam ornament, gets to open the first present on Christmas day.”
Then, Lane described the array of treats that his family would make for their Christmas Eve feast: “We always have candies and cookies that we made in anticipation: divinity, fudge, buried-cherry cookies, caramels, date cookies and frosted sugar cookies cut into various shapes.”
Lane painted a portrait of the feast and said, “You’ll see and smell Lit’l Smokies with a sauce made of ketchup and grape jelly, cheese and crackers, assorted deli meats and smoked oysters from the can.” The last might seem peculiar, so Lane made sure to include that only his dad likes those.
After reading these athletes’ favorite holiday traditions, hopefully one can remember what awaits after exams, and perhaps even take in the present moment during the holiday season. There are so many distractions during the holidays but one only needs to remember the true reason for the season and enjoy these precious moments with loved ones. Merry Christmas!