Deck the halls with boughs of holly, Fa la la la la la la la!. The holiday season is fast approaching, and although stores and houses are overflowing with Christmas spirit, the Hockaday campus looks no different than it does any other time of year.

Meanwhile, over at St. Mark’s, the festivities couldn’t be more timely. Every year, the St. Mark’s seniors band together and decorate the school for the holidays; however, here at Hockaday we have no such tradition.

Although I commend St. Mark’s for their holiday spirit, I do not think Hockaday seniors should be required to decorate the school; however, if the class wishes to do so, I think they should be given the opportunity.

Christmas is known for its flashy decorations, sumptuous treats, cheery songs and infectious joy. Although all of these qualities really spice up the holidays, they are not essential. The holidays are also about promoting quality time spent with family and friends; they are about cherishing what you have and celebrating it with your loved ones.

All the other bells and whistles, no pun intended, are just trivial. Surprisingly enough, we don’t need a nine-foot tree or a wreath on every classroom door to promote Christmas spirit. That’s not what the holidays are about.

If the seniors want to decorate the halls, then by all means they should definitely get to do so. I think it would be a unique bonding experience for the form if they choose to take time out of their busy schedules and make the school look a little bit more festive for the holidays.

I definitely wouldn’t mind spending a few hours goofing off with my friends as we debate over whether we should put an angel or a star at the top of the tree or try to decide where on campus to hide the mistletoe.

Every school has its traditions, and they are unique to each school. That is why they are called “traditions.”  If every school did the same activities and had the same customs, traditions wouldn’t really be special and would probably lose all their meaning.

Decorating the school has always been a tradition for St. Mark’s seniors, but we don’t necessarily have to do the same. We at Hockaday have lots of our own special traditions for seniors such as the red and white senior shirts, Senior Splash Day, and even our long, flowing white graduation dresses and flowery hats.

If the seniors want to start a new tradition of decorating the school for the holidays, then I say go for it. Every tradition had to start somewhere, so why not now?

But if decorating is too much of a hassle, there’s no need to change our traditions or lack thereof. I think in the end it should ultimately be up to the senior class. Deck the halls? Eh, maybe…maybe not.

Either way, I’m sure it’ll still be a holly jolly Christmas, even without the boughs of holly.