First came the leap year, and now another anomaly has interrupted the University of Maryland student calendar as we know it: St. Patrick’s Day this year is over spring break, instead of before it. After logging in grueling hours occupying McKeldin and Van Munching during midterms, students suddenly find themselves dreaming of margaritas on the beach.
Typically one single thing keeps Maryland students from going crazy before break: St. Patrick’s Day. The holiday tends to fall conveniently in the final days before break starts, offering students a much-needed rest from their studies.
This year is different however, because the highly anticipated holiday falls on the first day of spring break, therefore offering students no break from midterm studying. It would be interesting to see if this positively or negatively affects student’s overall midterm grades.
This leaves Maryland students with a puzzling dilemma, however: how to celebrate the holiday away from College Park. What is St. Patrick’s Day without Girl Scout cookie shots or green rails at Cornerstone and Bentley’s? It turns out that many Maryland students have their own traditions at home that can inspire you to stay in spirit this year, with or without C.P.
Most cities have St. Patrick’s Day parades that help get residents into the holiday spirit. Sophomore hearing and speech major Colleen Tuohy said that when she was younger, being involved in the parade was always a huge part of how she celebrated.
“I was an Irish step dancer, and every year my school would dance on a float in the Baltimore St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” said Tuohy. “The streets were always packed with people dressed up.”
Who doesn’t love an excuse to wear the typically universally unflattering traditional holiday color, kelly green? Arguably one of people’s favorite parts of the holiday is being able to come up with creative ways to dress in spirit. Each year, C.P.’s finest can be seen decked out in head-to-toe green, and look good in it too.
Sophomore marketing major Christina Posa said that dressing in theme plays a big role in the parade experience in her hometown region of Westchester, N.Y. “My friends had tie-dyed green shirts, green stick-on mustaches and shamrock necklaces, all that were shopped for in advance,” Posa said. “People get pretty into it here.”
While most students can’t imagine why anyone would get out of bed before 1 p.m. on a Saturday morning, Posa said that the festivities start as early as 9 a.m. on parade day. The day starts early with everyone getting together to eat a breakfast buffet of bagels, cookies and drinks- all of course that are green.
For those who don’t have the option of attending a local parade, some students choose to take their talents elsewhere. The obvious choice appears to be Penn State’s State Patties Day. Although referred to as a “day”, State Pattie’s Day is actually a weekend-long celebration full of festivities and inevitable rowdiness.
Sometimes nothing is better than staying home and celebrating the day with quirky family traditions, however.
Megan Hepner, a senior environmental science and policy major, says that when celebrating St. Patrick’s Day at home, food plays a major role in the festivities. “My dad makes roast beef and cabbage every St. Patties Day with dyed-green deviled eggs,” Hepner said.
Her mother also dyes items throughout their house green, such as their milk and soap, to add to the spirit of the holiday. No matter how you choose to spend your St. Patrick’s Day, the most important thing is whom you choose to spend it with.