Wrapping up

With the holiday fast approaching, many VCU students are preparing for the semester to end so they can go home to spend the Christmas holidays with family.

Other students plan to work or travel to visit relatives. Still some students will utilize the winter break by taking intersession courses for three weeks during the winter break.

For some students, celebrating the holiday season is a family tradition and they go home to spend time with loved ones doing things like having a big holiday feast and exchanging gifts.

“Christmas is a regular tradition in my family,” said Shirley Moore, a senior criminal justice major. “We (my family) celebrate Christmas Day at my brother-in-law’s house in Portsmouth and leave that night and go to my hometown in Edenton, N.C.”

Lauren Daniel, a junior business-administration major, said though she usually spends the traditional holiday celebration with her family, this year it will be different because her twin brothers are in Iraq and will not be home.

“It will be awkward because it will just be their wives and kids here,” she said.

Other students who have parents living in different households often divide their time between families.

Melina Velasquez, a sophomore undeclared major, shares time with her father in Woodbridge and her mother in Fairfax.

“I visit my dad on Christmas Eve, and I am with my mom on Christmas Day,” she said.

For other students the holidays become a vacation time when they can relax and unwind.

“I’m not a holiday person, but I’m going on vacation to Puerto Rico,” said Chris Dovan, a junior philosophy major, while Vijay Iswariah, a sophomore business major, will be “going to New Orleans for New Year’s.”

As for students like Dale Womack, a senior criminal justice and political science major, they study while completing their intersession courses, but will take time out for relaxation.

“I’ll be hanging out with my frat brothers,” Womack said.

Moreover, many students including Brie Dubinsky, a junior English major, will work in Richmond during the break and cannot make it home and back. Dubinsky said she hopes her family will make the trip from Blacksburg to visit her in the capital city.

Tommy Smith, a real estate and urban studies major, will graduate Saturday, and plans to relax with family members after celebrating achievements with friends.