Not all Lakeview students celebrate Christmas, but for those who do December 25th may not be the only date. 

The vast majority of students here at Lakeview celebrate Christmas on the 25th. However, several Eastern Orthodox students attend Lakeview and do celebrate Christmas but on a different date. For senior Luis Vega-Borges, a practicing Eastern Orthodox Christian, Christmas is celebrated 13 days later on January 7th. Vega-Borges said, “Well, we do not celebrate Christmas on the same day as the Catholics and Protestants because we use a different calendar.” 

He continued with, “The Catholic’s changed to the Gregorian calendar which celebrates Christmas on the 25th of December, and we Orthodox stayed with the Julian calendar which recognizes Christmas on the 7th of January.” 

Vega Borges commented on his opinion about the placement of Christmas for him, “Yes, it does suck that we come back from break right when Christmas is coming around for us, but I would never want to change the date.” 

He added, “Celebrating Christmas on the 7th of January differentiates us from all of the other traditions and denominations of Christianity and even other religions, I think it shows we have something special.”

After speaking with him about the date of Christmas he said, “Well, most students here at Lakeview are not Orthodox, so I completely understand why winter break would not cover our Christmas. I see this winter break as more of a time away from school as we do the Nativity fast, but I also see it as a great opportunity to be able to hang out with my friends and family.”

Vega-Borges wishes winter break would cover the day of “The Nativity” for him, but he’s happy that he gets a Christmas Break in the first place. He also stated that he attends Christmas gatherings during break for his friends and family who are not Eastern Orthodox.

In addition to differing dates of celebrating Christmas, for some Lakeview students the break is just a break and not time off for a holiday. Senior Mason Parks, a practicing Jew said this about winter break and its placement, “As a Jew it really doesn’t matter to me, I get time off for myself.”

Parks continued, “I would like them to acknowledge Hanukkah a little bit, because I walk down the hallways and everyone says ‘Merry Christmas’, and no one ever says ‘Happy Hanukkah’ to me. So, if winter break could be extended slightly to give us some time off for Hanukkah even if it’s just a single day that would be great.”

Parks also said, “I understand that adding on Hanukkah to the winter break would make it extremely long, but what I’m asking for is only a single day of Hanukkah off. I understand that most students at Lakeview are not Jewish, so I understand the placement of winter break being over the 25th of December, but I just wish I was able to spend more time with my friends and family for a Jewish holiday.”

Parks also said he will be attending Christmas gatherings this year, not for the celebration of Christmas but instead to simply take time off with family and friends.

As we can see not all religions celebrate Christmas. The biggest religion in the U.S. and at Lakeview High School is Christianity, and with that, most of the students here at Lakeview are going to celebrate Christmas on December 25th. If you celebrate Christmas, hopefully you get plenty of presents under the Christmas tree, if you do not, enjoy the long break and see you back at school in January. Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Belated Hanukkah, and enjoy your break everyone!