Back in elementary school, it seemed as though every holiday was a grand occasion deserving of school-day-long festivities. However, in college, where the grade school lockers are gone and SpongeBob lunch boxes obsolete, it appears that the magic of certain holidays has faded.
One of the holidays that has lost some of its valor as children grow into adults is St. Patrick’s Day. Students at the University of Maryland were asked their input about the day of green and their takes on its relevance in the lives of college students Warning: Some of the answers may be disheartening to local leprechauns.
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Nicholas Thompson, 19, a sophomore architecture major, said that he thinks people still celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in general, but the celebrations are less common on college campuses. Back in his hometown of Ocean City, Maryland, Thompson said that they ring in the day with a local parade.
As for his own plans, Thompson said that this year he will most likely be attending church and noted the possibility of hanging out with some friends at a potential “get together where they all wear green.”
Even though Thompson acknowledged that St. Patrick’s Day as an adult is less magical than when he was a kid, he does possess a semi-understanding of the meaning of the day. According to Thompson, there was “some alternate form of religion in Ireland and St. Patrick booted them.”
While Thompson’s interpretation of the holiday is rather abstract, some students know even less about the purpose of the day. Sophomore electrical engineering major Julian Durr said he “just [doesn’t] really know what it’s for,” in regards to St. Patrick’s Day.
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Durr is rather confused about the meaning, even though he said he used to wear green for the day when he was younger, but now he “doesn’t pay attention” to what color he wears. He said he thinks “college students use [St. Patrick’s Day] as an excuse to drink more than they already were going to.”
St. Patrick’s Day has never been a big day of grandeur for Durr, but he reports that March 17 does have a special place in his heart because it is also his uncle’s birthday.
As for this upcoming St. Patrick’s Day, Durr said his plans include “probably going to church and sleeping” and working on a school project.
Someone who does find splendor and joy in celebrating the day dedicated to St. Patrick is sophomore broadcast journalism Kate DeBlasis. She says the day is “mainly about being green and embracing your roots… if you’re Irish… which I am.”
Kate DeBlasis (courtesy of DeBlasis)
DeBlasis reminisced on her younger years when her mom would dress her up in “full-on green” and she would get to eat green bagels and drink green milk prepared by her dad. She also admitted to pinching people who were not dressed in green on the holiday.
As a college student, DeBlasis remarked that, in her opinion, some college students use St. Patrick’s Day as “just another reason for people to get hammered on a random Sunday night.” She continued with this thought and said that she thought the university made its Spring Break cover St. Patrick’s Day so students wouldn’t have the ability to get too wild during celebrations on campus.
Her plans for this year’s St. Patrick’s Day include wearing green and eating her mom’s “corn beef and cabbage,” which is a holiday tradition for the family, and, as DeBlasis described, “literally so gross.”
People may develop different ways of celebrating holidays as they grow older, but one aspect of celebration remains true among all ages: enjoying whatever one is doing is the best celebration of all.