By Elyssa Phan, Staff Writer/Photographer
As high schoolers, our minds are constantly clouded by the next upcoming assignment, upcoming project, upcoming test… that sometimes, we don’t even realize another season has passed. It’s not until you see some fairy lights here and there or a santa hat perched on someone’s head that you realize, Oh it’s already the end of the year!
Point being, the holiday seasons are characterized by decorations. One of my favorite things that I look forward to during the holiday season is stepping into a classroom lit up with seasonal lights or embellished with a snowmen and candy canes. It may seem like an insignificant detail but it makes a huge difference.
When teachers decorate classrooms, it brings you back to those old nostalgic elementary school days when we had class-wide Secret Santa or a holiday party before break began. Back to those days of leisure when everything was much simpler and more thoroughly enjoyed–when life moved at a slower pace, actually allowing us to stop and smell the hot cocoa and sit down to take in the scent of the Christmas tree in our living rooms.
I think there’s some sort of notion that just because we’re older now means that we don’t really care about this kind of silly stuff anymore – that we’re “too old” for it. But just because we’re older now, doesn’t mean that we should be completely adapting to a dull, mundane routine. A simple string of lights can remind students that there are bigger things in life outside of schoolwork and grades.
Frankly, decorating classrooms simply brings joy to an otherwise kind-of-meagerly-looking place. Not only does it brighten up students’ moods, but also for the teachers who spend 6 hours everyday in their classrooms too. And this is just the cherry on top, but it has been significantly proven that your work space and environment definitely has a positive correlation with your productivity and work ethic. This means that the happier you are in a classroom, the more motivated you might be to start on that homework assignment earlier.
Above all, when a seasonal adornment is added here and there in a classroom for the holiday season, it really makes your teachers and classes appear to be less intimidating. It reminds you that even though teachers have assigned a project due in the next couple of days they’re also still human who are looking forward to enjoying this time with their family just as much as you are.
And you know what? Even if some lights or a gel snowflake on the door doesn’t make a significant impact to your life, who cares? If there’s anything, even in the slightest, to make you smile for a couple of seconds or just make you feel a tad bit better, why not? It’s the least we can do to carry a bit of home to school. And the minimum we can do to ring in the holiday season.
