By Natalie Clark
With colorfully wrapped presents under the tree, stockings hanging by the chimney and glistening snow on the ground, Christmas is inching closer and closer.
Visions of sugar-plums may not be dancing in students? heads with Finals Week looming, but with Christmas in the air, students try to remember Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. For some, Christ is remembered through family traditions.
?We usually do the family thing together and act out the Nativity,? said Karen Villar, a freshman from Lima, Peru. ?My parents are converts to the church, and they usually share their testimonies about how the church has changed their lives and how they?re thankful for the Atonement. It makes it really special for us.?
The Christmas box at Emily Burkinshaw?s home is one of her family traditions.
?My mom has this little box under the Christmas tree,? said Burkinshaw, a junior from Bartlesville, Okla. ?On Christmas Eve, we open this special box and find a little manger inside. My mom then tells the story of Christ?s birth. This is the last thing we do before we go to bed. It is nice to just read over the Christmas story and learn a little bit more about his life.?
While some take time to learn more about Christ?s life, others exemplify Christ through helping people around them.
?My favorite Christmas memory is when I was 11 years old and my dad was bishop,? said Rebecca Peterson, a freshman majoring in psychology. ?On Christmas Eve, he enlisted my sisters and me to help him. We went to a less-active lady?s house in the ward, and my dad had gotten them a lot of gifts and food. I remember walking into her apartment and setting it all up, and she started crying because she was so grateful.?
For some students, the best Christmas memories come from when they served others when they were younger.
?My family always does the Twelve Days of Christmas for a needy family in our neighborhood,? said Andrew Kano, a sophomore from Brigham City. ?One Christmas when I was little, we had tons and tons of toys, so we went and gathered up all of our Ninja Turtles and gave them all away to some kids who didn?t get Christmas.?
For Sarah Taylor, Christmas is a time to renew efforts to find the good in people throughout the year.
?On a personal level, I try to remember everyone I see is a son or daughter of God, and everyone around me has a chance to come back to Christ,? said Taylor, a senior majoring in microbiology from Rancho, Calif. ?So when I?m driving on the freeway and someone cuts me off, I try to think of Christ. I think of the Lord in the people I see.?