Written by Zoe Guo – Class of 2027

As soon as Sharon residents rise on the morning of November 1, piles of Halloween decorations are swapped out for their festive counterparts. While some are filled with excitement for the winter holidays, others frown at the idea of celebrating them before Thanksgiving. 

One year ago, Sharon High students were asked to share their opinion on whether it was better to observe the holidays before or after November 1st. According to the survey’s results, 42.9% of all students polled believed that it was still too early to bring out the holiday pizzazz. 

Surprisingly, skipping over Thanksgiving wasn’t the only answer as to why people thought November 1st was too early. Junior Sophie Liang said that celebrating for too long makes the holidays less fun. “Celebrating this early takes away from the special-ness of holiday time—the holidays aren’t as special and magical if we’re celebrating them for 2 months or more,” she explained.

Junior Alison Dembsky added that the season becomes less festive if people begin to celebrate too early. “By the time it gets to the holidays, I’m already tired of the decorations and the music. I would rather celebrate more for a shorter time than less for a longer time,” she said.  

Jongvin Lee, a senior at SHS, said that celebrating earlier encourages unethical business practices: “A lot of companies begin the holiday celebrations early so that they can squeeze more money out of customers who may feel that they need to get ready in advance, and to celebrate the holidays starting from the 1st is supporting that sort of business.”

The other 57.1% of students polled disagreed, saying that November festivities were perfectly fine—especially since famous people do it as well! As senior Joanna Wei shared, “Mariah Carey has been defrosting since Nov. 1st, all day, every day.”

Sophomore Nick Weader said that it was more important to celebrate with joy than focus on dates. “Time is relative and has no meaning, so feel free to celebrate whatever, whenever,” Weader said.

Junior Luna Reyes argued that the history of Thanksgiving makes it less culturally important. “Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated in America with an untrue PG representation of how the Pilgrims came to America,” she said. “It is not that important compared to holidays like Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, or the multiple holidays that are a tradition for many generations where families gather for religious celebrations.”

“Let people do what they gotta do; these holidays celebrated at the end of the year should be well prepared, enjoyed, and embraced,” she added.

At the end of the day, no matter which side you support, the holidays are a time that brings people together. “There is no specific date to celebrate an event. Anyone can celebrate an event at any time they want to,” said junior Meenu Donavalli. Similarly, sophomore Nithilan Muthu Vijayan shared that it was more important to be with your family during the winter season: “There is no official date for the start of the holidays; therefore, it is up to the family members to decide when and where to celebrate it.”