For some, the joyous Thanksgiving season has arrived. Others choose to skip straight to Christmas and holiday festivities. Some students discussed with The Post why they decided to decorate early for the holidays, and others explained why they are holding back and enjoying the last few weeks of fall before the winter festivities truly begin.
While Christmas decorations are already clogging the shelves of supermarkets, every person must decide whether to indulge over a month before the big day or wait until after Thanksgiving.
According to WBIW, 94% of Americans celebrate Christmas or the holiday season in some aspect, and 84% say they decorate. According to the webpage, the most popular time to decorate for the holiday season is the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Ryker Hindenlang, a freshman studying virtual reality and game development, said because his family is from the Philippines, he often prepares for Christmas very early in the season, sometimes even as early as mid-September. He said his mother usually brings out the Christmas decorations right before Thanksgiving, but the planning and holiday cheer usually blossoms earlier in the fall.
Hidenlang said he plans to decorate his door with his roommate for a dorm hall competition and see what he can get for his friends from their Christmas lists.
He also said he's excited to spend time with family and feel the Christmas spirit.
"I like it because I've always had good family memories around Christmas," he said. "We have a big dinner. It's the only time I get to connect with my extended family. I don't know, just the lights and the music and the atmosphere always made me happy."
Katelyn Knodell, a sophomore studying nursing, said she only really enjoys celebrating Christmas during December. She said her mother is a big fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, which she can only stand to watch for a few weeks out of the year rather than a full two months. She said she also gets sick of listening to Christmas music if it goes on for too long.
Knodell said she feels the weather in Athens was also inappropriate for celebrating Christmas and that she enjoyed fall decorations; she feels they are often forgotten.
"Personally, I really like fall decorations and still using pumpkins and little turkeys, and I think that those are really cute and they kind of get overlooked a lot because people just want to jump straight from Halloween to Christmas when these fall decorations are usually really cute, but people are already putting up their Christmas tree," she said.
