How to Make the Most of Your College Christmas Break
Easy & Affordable Ways for College Students to Give Back During the Holidays
As soon as you finish your last final, you better skip out of that classroom singing, “Tis the season to be jolly…FA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA,” because you survived another semester! Horray!
Now you have an entire month to breathe and catch up on sleep. Besides binging the Office for the seventh time, you can use some of your college Christmas break to give back to your community. Here are six easy ways you can make a difference:
If you’re staying on campus…
Get your friends involved! With seemingly endless free time on your hands, spend it together to do something meaningful for those in the community.
1. Carol around town
This may sound cheesy to the max, but who can’t help but smile at a group of Christmas carolers? That is unless they demand some figgy pudding. Bring some joy to your community by throwing on some mittens and belting Jingle Bells down the frosty main street. Here are some tips on Christmas caroling etiquette.
2. Put out penny jars
This one takes minimal effort. All you need is permission from university staff to place some mason jars around campus. Figure out where you’re going to donate the money, and write up a little card to go with it. If for some reason your campus won’t permit this, you can walk dorm to dorm asking students if they can spare some change for your decided cause.
**Bonus if you can leave them out through spring semester!
3. Make a kid’s Christmas better
Christmas is supposed to be a magical time for children, but some have a harder time finding the Christmas spirit. Can you picture your five-year-old self spending Christmas in a hospital bed or celebrating it away from your dad because he’s overseas? Yowch. With a small act of kindness, you can make a child’s Christmas a little brighter.
4. Hold a “Ramen Drive”
College students are prepared to survive a zombie apocalypse with their hoard of nonperishable foods. When’s the last time you saw the bottom of your stash? Instead of stacking more and more cans in your pantry, why don’t you hold a Ramen Drive? Ask your fellow students to donate some of their canned goods, and you can bring them to a local food pantry.
Here’s a list of ideas on what’s appropriate to donate.
5. Write Christmas cards
Invite your friends over for hot chocolate and handwrite some good old-fashioned Christmas cards. You can send them out to family and friends. Or, better yet, you can spread some Christmas cheer to those who need it most like:
- Children in the hospital
- Soldiers deployed overseas
- Seniors in the nursing home
- First responders on duty
6. If you’re heading home for the holidays, invite a friend home with you!
The holiday season isn’t the same without family and a home to visit. Perhaps you know an exchange student from China or one of your friends can’t afford to fly home for the holidays. If one of your friends is stuck on campus for Christmas and your family lives close, invite them home with you. It will make the ultimate Christmas gift.
How do you plan to give back during your college Christmas break?
