During the holidays, everyone looks forward to being able to spend some time with their loved ones, especially when they live in a different country. But being able to visit family can be extremely difficult because students have many responsibilities to take care of, one of them being school. Although students get two weeks off from school to spend time with their family, that is not enough time for them to enjoy their holiday cultural traditions with their families that don’t live here. 

For example, in Mexico and other countries, Christmas is celebrated, but it isn’t as big a deal as it is in the United States. One of the big holidays that the people who live in these countries look forward to is el Dia de Los Reyes Magos, which is celebrated on January 5th and 6th. Christmas break usually doesn’t last that long, though, so instead, students and their families miss some school days to enjoy family gatherings and holiday festivities. During these times, families also decide to plan events, such as weddings or quinceaneras, because this is the only time in the year where everyone is together to celebrate. 

Many students and their families leave a couple days or weeks earlier than Christmas break in order to plan for these family festivities and won’t return around mid-January, which as mentioned before, is well past the break that is given. But before you start getting impatient with students and peers for disappearing for a few weeks before and after the Christmas break, realize how important family connection and cultural identity can be to the overall health and welfare of these students or just people in general.