Students who arrivied home from Quinnipiac for Thanksgiving most likely took a walk through their local shopping mall to see department stores decorated for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

In some malls, good ole’ Santa Claus was already taking advantage of his photo opportunities with starry-eyed children before the Thanksgiving holiday even arrived.

Over the years, Christmas has been celebrated as far as two months in advance. It is no longer out of the ordinary to hear someone humming “Jingle Bells” before the turkey has been put in the oven.

Quinnipiac student Sara Eichler said she starts getting ready for the holidays after Thanksgiving.

“My family and I always wait until a few days after Thanksgiving to decorate for the holidays,” she said. “It’s just always been a tradition.”

Sophomore Samantha Naugler agreed.

“We usually wait until when Christmas gets really close to decorate and put up our tree, like around the 20th,” she said.

Some people wait until after the food-filled November holiday to start decking the halls. Sophomore Elle Pelican, on the other hand, celebrates differently.

“My roommate and I put up our Christmas tree before we left for Thanksgiving break.” she said. “We decorate early in my family, too. It’s just what we do.”

It is no surprise that different families have all sorts of ways to celebrate and decorate for the winter holidays, regardless of their religion or what holiday they celebrate.

The Christmas season, however, seems to be the one holiday during which people seem to jump the gun and have their hearts set on getting into the spirit as early as possible.

Student Aaron Diggle has a different point of view. He does not believe that it is the spirit people are wishing to get into.

“They do it to show off,” Diggle said. “It’s the rich snotty people who want to show off all that crap they buy and be the first people to put it out so people will stop and look at their house.”

Eichler held a different opinion but agrees with Diggle that decorating before Thanksgiving is unnecessary.

“When people decorate too early, before Thanksgiving, it takes away from the holiday. Everyone is so concentrated on Christmas that it overshadows a holiday that celebrates thankfulness,” Eichler said.

Pelican could not disagree more.

“Christmas is a fun and meaningful time of year and it is never too early to celebrate,” she said. “It is fun to decorate and I can never wait to put up my tree with my roommate. It is lots of fun.”

No matter their traditions or beliefs, everyone interviewed seemed to agree on one thing: that the holiday spirit and the excitement of the season make for a good time.

“I believe it is up to the person,” said sophomore Stephanie Green. “Decorating November 1 or December 24 is up to the person or the family. It’s the holidays. People can do whatever they want.”

She said this holds true only if one thing happens. “As long as they have a merry Christmas, it’s all that really matters, isn’t it?”