I hate having to scrape the frost off of my car in the mornings. I hate having to allow time to put on and take off layers when traveling places. I hate having to stall getting out of my bed in the frigid mornings of the wintertime. Although I am already sick of winter weather within the first few weeks of the holiday season there is one part of winter that I will never hate or get sick of; I love Christmas. I love celebrating the end of a semester and getting a break from college for a little. I love eating. I love celebrating a season of hope and love.

I especially love Christmastime at Marywood. There are wreaths and lights and candy everywhere. One special event in particular kicks off the Christmas season at Marywood and it is always huge. The annual Christmas tree lighting at Marywood is not only open to the students but also people of the community. There are excited children running around waiting to see the lights illuminate the huge tree. There is Christmas caroling by the chamber singers that echoes in melodic beauty around the rotunda. There is eggnog and cookies to remind our stomachs that the holidays are coming.

My favorite part of the tree lighting surprisingly is not the lights flicking on after our countdown that light up the massive tree, it actually takes place before that. Every club at Marywood has the option to make a Christmas ornament to hang on Marywood’s Christmas tree. Most of the campus’ clubs continue to make club ornaments every year. Before the tree is lit each club is called forward and the club’s ornament gets hung on the tree. I love this part so much because I see all of the cubs that Marywood has and there truly is something for everyone. Even more, the artist in me loves seeing the ornaments. Every club, whether art based or not, is represented with artistry. Each ornament reflects the focus of their club. You get to see a club’s creativity and I enjoy being able to see that. The music therapy’s club ornament was a Popsicle stick piano keyboard this year. The VIA (Volunteers in Action) made a “helping hand” garland to hang with cut-out hands that were decorated with volunteer opportunities this year. Zeta Omicron of course reflected the arts on their ornament. Every club had something creative to add to the tree.

I love Christmas creativity. I love Marywood at Christmas time. I love seeing a giant tree to light up the campus. Winter…I still need to work on loving that.

Before Lighting

After Lighting