This past semester, EF celebrated Christmas early with a range of exciting festive activities. On December 3, 2025, in the dorms, Cedar and Alder, they celebrated by making colorful Christmas ornaments to be hung up on the dorm’s Christmas trees.
At this annual event, students are provided with winter-themed wood pieces, paint, and brushes, inviting them to get creative and create their own designs. They range from classic green and red mistletoes, snowflakes, and bells, to more personalized designs. Ornaments that students painted last year are added to the tree as well, to grow the collection.
The vibe and atmosphere were lively and cozy. Students sat on couches under the dim, warm lights, painting, chatting, and laughing as “Harry Potter: The Goblet of Fire” played in the background.
Nora Yang was one of the students who participated, and she painted a cup, a snowflake, and a jingle bell. And for the cup, she decided to take a more unique approach. “I painted an ‘oh deer’ on a cup because it’s from one of my favorite shows, Hazbin Hotel,” inspired by a character named Alastor. That, she said, was her favorite part of the night.
One of the main organizers, Amy Richardson, a house parent who hosted many dorm activities, gave some comments on how it turned out. She says that overall, “the students who came had a good time,” but that in the future, she’d like to “have it on a different night, because so many students were checked out for Thanksgiving break.”
The Christmas Ornament decorating was done to celebrate Christmas early, but it also added to the sense of community in the dorms and helped reduce en
d-of-year stress for many students. Everyone enjoyed it greatly, and there will be a lot more activities to come.
