‘Tis the season to be jolly

**Christmas is the one time in the year when relatives expect you to gain weight, and singing annoyingly repetitive songs about red-nosed reindeers is completely acceptable. John Lewis is making you cry in between X Factor advert breaks and the lights in your town centre are being turned on regardless of eco-friendly policies. Christmas trees are being decorated in line with strict ‘silver, purple, silver, pink, repeat’ instructions and shopping for everything under the sun because hey, Uncle John may want a Christmas pudding infused with an entire orange, despite the fact that his doctor has told him to lay off the citrus, is definitely okay. Christmas is the festive holiday where you could, if you had the inclination to do so, wear tinsel around your neck instead of a scarf…what’s not to love?**

It’s been a truly fantastic term so far. Freshers have settled in and learned everything from the best day to get laundry done to the quickest way to the post room. Second years living in Leamington have realised there really is no going back to campus; Evolve being a 5 minute walk away is a good enough price to pay for Sammy the Big Issue Man lurking around town offering awkward hugs and reciting overused rhymes. Finalists have become captains of nostalgia, reminiscing with sentiments like ‘dude, this is the last time we’ll ever chunder in the SU toilets together again’…cue sobs. But when it’s all said and done, nothing beats going home for Christmas.

Even the most Grinch-like of us have to admit there’s something magical about the whole family coming together for that one special day in the year. With the scrumptious aroma of turkey roasting in the oven, it doesn’t even matter if your 7-year-old cousin bullies you into watching the same Disney Christmas Special you could quote, backwards, before he was even born! By the third round of Christmas dinner, all your worries will have been pushed aside to make room for the fourth.

Whether your tradition is to wake up early in the morning and hurl yourself down the stairs, or to wait until the stroke of midnight to open presents under the tree, knowing that all the not-so-subtle hints you’ve been dropping every time you Skype your parents have actually worked, is a feeling that can’t be compared to any other. Neither is knowing that this year you’ve outdone yourself, be it with Secret Santa with your flatmates or with a deeply considered gift for a loved one, you totally rocked the topsy-turvy world of Christmas novelties, buy–one-get-one-free Boots bath-sets and of course, the best a man can get, Gillette shavers.

A year is a very long time, filled to the brim with trials and tribulations. 9am lectures, Wednesday night circles and non-assessed essays that always find a way to make you panic no matter how far ahead you plan, all have a wicked way of sneaking up on you. So, even if it’s just for a few weeks in the year, it’s nice to be able to relax, put your feet up, leave all the student stress at Warwick and know that the only thing you have to worry about is whether to start with the sticky toffee pudding or the chocolate gateau.

Merry Christmas everyone.