Clare Dickson: Home for Christmas

It’s that time of year again, and like other students around me I’m off “home-home” for Christmas. Maybe I’ve grown out of the stereotypes of going home for laundry, good food and heating, but it will still feel good to be home.
Two weeks of spending time with my family, catching up with old friends and the traditional gathering with my cousins. It’s a time of last minute shopping, plenty of festive food, Christmas albums playing on loop and more than one argument over a board game. Home is a comfortable, safe and welcoming refuge where I can recover from the stress and drama of the semester, and share stories with my family of all the great things we’ve done this year.
I’m very lucky to have all this, I know. There are many who can’t go home this Christmas, who don’t have a home to go to, or who don’t have friends or family there to spend it with. Many elderly people will be spending Christmas at home alone, while homeless people across the country hope for shelter from the cold. People far away from home, whether seeking refuge, adventure or a new life must spend the season in a new place, without the traditions and home comforts they may be used to at this time of year.
Even for those who don’t celebrate Christmas, it’s a time to be with loved ones and come together against the cold of British December. From international students using the holidays to explore the UK or spend time with new friends here, to local students living at home who see all their friends leave for the season, being home for Christmas is not something to be taken for granted.
As for me, I can’t wait.