Emily

Holiday shopping can be very stressful for college students lacking spending money. (Photo from bgvllage.com)

“I love Christmas. But it is stressful,” sophomore biology major Sandra Gomes said.

Some students share this sen­timent. The commercialism of the season gets to students, and, at least among students I spoke to, the pressure of finding gifts for family and friends seems to be the main cause of stress dur­ing the season (not counting fi­nals that end a few days before Christmas). But please keep in mind that Christmas is not about gifts. Giving should not be a stressful aspect of the season. Finals should probably be where the December stress lies. Still, holiday giving seems to cause a bit of anxiety.

“I have no money. Being so broke all the time, it’s stressful deciding what presents to buy, and having to pick and choose what people to buy for,” Gomes said.

I concur with Gomes. I never have any idea what to buy and for whom. Instead of going to the mall or perusing Amazon.com, another option is to save some money and make presents. But making presents might not be any easier than buying… espe­cially when the present is expect­ed to be something homemade and heartfelt. That requires more effort and creativity, or perhaps baking skills (which I lack).

For a few years, I will openly admit, I’ve resorted to running down the street to Walgreens around December 22 to buy fuzzy socks and lip-gloss for everyone (except my youngest brother, who is happy with a snow globe or even a dog toy).

Don’t judge me harshly, though. Who doesn’t love fuzzy socks? And my brother really does appreciate a good dog toy, but I suppose you’d have to live in my house to understand that one.

I’m not the worst, either. At least I shopped a few days before Christmas. Last year, my other brother rode his skateboard to CVS on Christmas Eve at 8pm to pick up a gift for me and for our parents. The gift was two bottles of shampoo and a chocolate bar. The family was quite happy with that.

I may or may not have also taken up the art of re-gifting over the years as well. My goal this year is to stop the last-min­ute shopping madness and think about what I can do that will re­ally make my family and friends happy and appreciative. It’s al­ready December 7, though, so maybe I should start on this plan soon.

So, don’t stress about gift giv­ing; you are probably better at it then my brothers and I are.

Personally, I refuse to shop on Black Friday, or even think about gifts until December starts.

“Shopping is stressful. I hate Black Friday with a passion-people are vultures,” sophomore criminal justice major and Black Friday retail worker Mackie Fer­guson said.

The shopping experience re­ally doesn’t sound that joyous.

But sophomore business ma­jor Sharon Veliyathu reminded me of the joys of Christmas.

“I love seeing my family, and having my cousins over. I love decorating the tree, and the Christmas party with the whole family is a lot of fun,” Veliyathu said.

Veliyathu focuses on the good aspects of Christmas. She doesn’t face financial stress dur­ing Christmas time.

“We do Secret Santa in my family. This way, we only have to buy a few gifts, so I don’t face financial stress,” Veliyathu said.

This would be one of the rea­sons Secret Santa remains popu­lar between family and friend groups. Only having to buy/cre­ate one or two presents instead of seven is surely a good thing. But, in my opinion, this almost makes Christmas shopping more dif­ficult. Last year I got my room­mate as my Secret Santa person, and I couldn’t keep it a secret so I blatantly told her I would be get­ting her something. For people like me who have trouble keep­ing secrets from their best friends or the people they live with, Se­cret Santa might not be the best option.

Again, Christmas is not about gifts, and students should not stress over what to buy.

But for those of you who still will stress over gift giving, I’ll give you some of my advice for this year (which may or may not involve late-night convenience store runs.)

When in doubt, get your boy­friend or guy friend a nice nov­elty t-shirt. Guys (and girls) seem to appreciate those. Personally, one of my brothers enjoys a good t-shirt very much, so I’m giving him a Pace Chronicle shirt, which I received for free. But the money doesn’t matter; this kid really ap­preciated t-shirts and will just be happy I got him something.

Don’t know what to get your mom? Frame a picture. Find an old picture of you and your sib­lings, and maybe take a new one, and make a nice 8 by 10 print in a classy frame for her new office. Moms seem to love photos of their kids.

Don’t know what to get your best friends? Sorry, can’t help you there. I’m still trying to fig­ure out what my friends would like.