Student leaders for Residence Life are working to bring holiday cheer to Goshen College’s campus through a “12 Days of Christmas” event lineup.
The daily holiday-themed events started on Nov. 30 and will continue until Dec. 11, which is the first day of winter break.
Among many other events, the schedule includes Christmas card making, the music department’s Festival of Carols concert, two movie nights and a hymn sing.
Although Residence Life doesn’t have any annual Christmas events, this year’s resident assistants decided that they wanted to do something a little different.
Jenae Longenecker, a sophomore and a resident assistant for Kratz 2, said that the 12 Days of Christmas are one way for students to relieve tension at the end of the semester.
“I’ve always thought it was kind of a shame that we deal with all the grumpiness and stress of finals with our friends at college, and then we go home and relax and celebrate with other people,” she said. “I think it’s important to celebrate the holidays with friends too, and these events are one way to do that.”
Joel Gerig, resident assistant for Yoder 2 South, agrees. “I think events like this are important because they offer a multitude of activities that people can choose from and attend their favorite event.”
Each event is hosted by one to three of the resident assistants, who are there to give instructions and make sure that everything runs smoothly.
On Tuesday, students could create a Christmas stocking out of construction paper by punching holes in the paper and sewing the papers together with yarn.
Once the stockings were completed, residence assistants filled them with candy and students could give them to a friend.
“We weren’t sure how turnout would be because this time of year can be overwhelming, but people seemed grateful for a short break to do something fun and social,” said Longenecker.
For a full schedule of the 12 Days of Christmas events, see the Goshen College Campus Life page on Facebook.
