It has been an eventful four months. Hurricanes, free parking, Honor Code enforcement, Housing problems and a plethora of many more controversial issues have graced the pages of The Daily Universe since the beginning of the semester. And on top of those is the usual whirlwind of stressful chores that accompanies a busy student?s life.
It?s a good thing we have Christmas, when we can relax, reflect on the past year and spend time with those we love.
Just don?t let the holidays become stressful. For many, Christmas is painful. The season has a tendency to hit tender chords for those who have lost loved ones during the year or are without employment. The pressure to give acceptable gifts and keep up with the Joneses can also snuff out the Christmas spirit. It?s one of the flaws of a capitalistic society ? sacred occasions tend to become mere moments of mandatory spending.
But we can walk the higher road and make Christ, family, friends and service the center of our celebration. Those are the parts of our lives that will make Christmas an enjoyable, rejuvenating time. And gifts, when kept in perspective, are appropriate displays of love for those important people.
The closing of the year and ushering in of a new one can also be a hard time for some. It?s easy to look back on the past year and pay more attention to the failures than the successes. But in order to make the celebration of a new year meaningful, we should try to recognize the growth we?ve experienced and resolve to make the next year even better.
We at The Daily Universe have had a great year. Along with moving into a new building, we have celebrated fifty years of being a daily paper. We thank you for celebrating with us and for reading. Your suggestions have been appreciated. Next year, we hope and plan to improve our news coverage and bring you more personal features to make reading the paper an enjoyable experience.
We hope that every member of the BYU community has a wonderful break and a merry Christmas. Please travel safely (we don?t want to start off our next semester with reports of tragedy). And remember, you have enough stress during the school year. Don?t wear yourself out making merry.