2008 Woodie Awards
An American holiday season
Matt Kushi, Collegian Columnist
Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: Editorial / Opinion
Now that Thanksgiving is over, we are officially in the holiday season. The holiday season has a special meaning. It means more than receiving gifts. It means more than giving gifts. It means more than merely showing someone that you care. It is about giving thanks to those that support you and it opens our eyes to what we can do to enrich the lives of others. The holiday season is the one time of year where we self-consciously see that we are a country of moralists in the fact that we are so thankful of others.
While it is sad that for some people this epiphany occurs to some people only once a year, it occurs to many people throughout the whole year. The whole idea behind the moral of this season is the act of valuing life; for appreciating people for being there. Likewise, in the total of the acts that we do, we show that we care about others as well.
The concept of valuing someone else's life is a noble act that nearly all of us engage in from day to day. Caring about yourself and caring about others is one of the greatest things that you can do with your life. When you think about it, that is what the holiday season is really all about. What it comes down to is how much we care for fellow human beings.
We see these great deeds in motion everyday, whether it be one person complimenting another or whether it be a person lending a stranger a helping hand.
While we have the chance to, we should also be thanking the soldiers who are fighting overseas. While we tend to think of war in a broad spectrum, some of the individual acts of courage that these brave men and women display to save each other and their country cannot be described in words.
We should be thanking members of our infrastructure as well. That unknown firefighter who risked his life to save another from a burning home encompasses the spirit of caring for others.
We should be thanking our friends and family for being there for us. We should be thanking teachers and mentors that have helped to shape our lives into what it is now. We should be thankful for growing up in a free Nation that was based on dreamers and moralists.
While it is sad that for some people this epiphany occurs to some people only once a year, it occurs to many people throughout the whole year. The whole idea behind the moral of this season is the act of valuing life; for appreciating people for being there. Likewise, in the total of the acts that we do, we show that we care about others as well.
The concept of valuing someone else's life is a noble act that nearly all of us engage in from day to day. Caring about yourself and caring about others is one of the greatest things that you can do with your life. When you think about it, that is what the holiday season is really all about. What it comes down to is how much we care for fellow human beings.
We see these great deeds in motion everyday, whether it be one person complimenting another or whether it be a person lending a stranger a helping hand.
While we have the chance to, we should also be thanking the soldiers who are fighting overseas. While we tend to think of war in a broad spectrum, some of the individual acts of courage that these brave men and women display to save each other and their country cannot be described in words.
We should be thanking members of our infrastructure as well. That unknown firefighter who risked his life to save another from a burning home encompasses the spirit of caring for others.
We should be thanking our friends and family for being there for us. We should be thanking teachers and mentors that have helped to shape our lives into what it is now. We should be thankful for growing up in a free Nation that was based on dreamers and moralists.
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