With finals just around the corner, and the stress that accompanies them, Holiday Village’s week of fun activities brought Carlmont students joy and fostered a sense of community.
An annual event at Carlmont, the Holiday Village week was created to celebrate the holidays and relieve student stress as finals approach. The festivities help students get in the holiday spirit and improve their mood.
“It’s pretty popular, as can be seen through past years. People love it,” said Jim Kelly, the Associated Student Body (ASB) adviser.
Holiday Village’s proximity to finals week allows it not only to increase holiday spirit but also to improve student stress at school that stems from finals.
“It gets kids and our student body away from the hyperfocus of finals and grades because there’s a lot of stress surrounding those things,” said Garrett Paulus, Carlmont senior and ASB co-facilitator of lunchtime activities.
Holiday Village also strengthens the sense of community at Carlmont by bringing people together, which improves students’ mental states.
“If there is a lot of stress on campus, just knowing that we’re all one big community and we’re in this together really helps people,” Kelly said.
At the same time, Holiday Village serves to increase students’ exposure to other cultures.
“We try to serve as diverse a population as possible,” Kelly said. “We celebrate all the different ethnic clubs.”
Holiday Village is also a great place to celebrate the diverse cultures of Carlmont students, and ASB works to make sure that all students feel included.
“Diversity is important for Holiday Village because it should be something that everyone can participate in. We want to make sure that people from every culture can enjoy the good thing that Holiday Village is,” Paulus said.
Even before Holiday Village week started, planning for it was already building community within ASB.
“Holiday Village brings ASB together because multiple branches are focused on the same thing. They’re all doing little bits and pieces to make the overall thing work,” Kelly said.
While planning for large events like Holiday Village and Homecoming Week, ASB gets closer because of the cooperation required to make something so significant come to fruition.
“Everyone comes together to help each other out. ASB is already a very tight-knit group, but the weeks where we all need extra help bring us even closer,” Paulus said.
Once the event started, students reacted positively to the activities planned. Many students showed up to decorate ornaments. Interactions between students at Holiday Village served to foster school spirit.
“It’s a way to decorate with your friends and make memories. Everybody is getting together and doing something together,” said Sadie Schneider, a sophomore.
The uplifting and positive nature of the event allowed students to destress by getting away from their busy lives for a moment.
“If you’re having a hard time during the holidays, Holiday Village is a good way to take your mind off of that,” Schneider said.
Having time away from stressful activities helps students maintain positive mental health with everything else going on. However, Holiday Village festivities do not help all students.
“It doesn’t affect a lot of Carlmont. Holiday Village hasn’t affected my stress around finals. I didn’t even notice the event,” said Leonard Jin, a junior.
For those who choose to participate, however, Holiday Village can be a fun, festive experience.
“Overall, I think it’s positive,” Schneider said.
