As the holidays are right around the corner, here are some of our staff’s favorite holiday/winter traditions!

Macie Mitnick: My favorite holiday tradition is my family Hanukkah party that we have every year! I get to see my  family, eat homemade latkes, and get a lot gifts, so it’s obviously a great night. But my favorite winter tradition/activity has to be driving around and looking at the holiday lights.

Uday Mittal: Most of the time I spend time with family, either traveling to India or local family in NJ, Michigan, and Virginia. Either way we always have fun as a family!

Jake Boyce: My favorite winter tradition is probably decorating the Christmas tree with my family. I also enjoy listening to Christmas music and driving through light shows.

Aaniya Wasim: Every winter break, my family would always travel to Pakistan to see our family. My grandparents, my closest aunts, uncles, and cousins, pretty much all my closest family members live there. Which is why we fly over and spend time with them until New Years Day. This year we’re not because already visited back in the summer. But normally this is my all-time favorite part of Christmas/winter break.

Diya Mahesh: My favorite holiday tradition is the beautiful decorative lights put every year to show spirit. As we drive on a dull night, seeing those lights brings extra joy, and some of them can be so unique. Every year, my family goes through a Christmas light drive through, where we are able to see the representation of so many events and stores. It is a captivating sight, and a great experience.

Shrinthaa Elaangovan: My favorite winter/holiday tradition is celebrating my birthday, which is on Christmas Eve! I also enjoy putting up holiday lights and decorations.

Cassidy Fisher: A new holiday tradition that I love is setting up our Christmas village. Although this year it’s small, I am excited to build on it every year!

Olivia Mahesh: My favorite holiday tradition is having a holiday movie marathon with my family (like The Rise of the Guardians, While You Were Sleeping, White Christmas, and Prep & Landing). Between school and work, movie nights are some of the few times my family gets to enjoy things together, and I always find it comforting to be able to spend that time with them during the holiday season.

Madelyn Engstrom: My favorite winter tradition is watching a movie the night of New Year’s Eve. Most years, I try to time it so that i finish the movie right before midnight so that it’s the last thing I do before the end of the year! It puts me in a really relaxing mindset to transition into the new year. I like to watch a movie that I really love – last year, I watched Eternal Sunshine of the spotless Mind.

Grace Piro: My favorite holiday tradition is watching Elf on Christmas Ever. My family and I spend the night watching out favorite holiday movie while cookies bake, and now we get to do so with our dog. If you haven’t watched Elf, it’s a must see this holiday season.