The air is cold, colorful lights hang from trees, and students all around the country endure their finals week. The year is coming to a close, and the holiday season is in full swing!

We ran another poll on The Lancer Feed’s Instagram, this time asking students’ opinions on the winter holidays.

We asked what holidays the Lancers celebrate; the most popular holiday was Christmas, followed by New Year’s Eve, Hannukah, and… Festivus?

For all holidays, we asked Lancers what holiday traditions they observe. Though not everyone celebrates Christmas, giving and receiving gifts was especially popular—even more so than Christmas itself! Many Lancers reported decorating, looking at lights, hosting family and friend get-togethers, and listening to Christmas music as yearly traditions.

Around half of respondents checked eating seasonal foods as a yearly tradition. We asked everyone to input their favorite food to eat during the holidays as a written response. The most popular foods reported were cookies by far; different types of cookies ranging from sugar cookies to oatmeal raisin cookies made up 43.5% of responses in this category. Pies, or similar items such as Portugese pasteis de nata or “Peppermint pavement,” an oreo-crusted peppermint ice cream concoction, made up an additional 17.4 percent of responses. Among “other” food items, Lancers showcased a wide array of foods they eat for the holidays—including some unorthodox selections.

Unlike food, which generally isn’t controversial, Christmas music can be quite contentious. Some people hate it and get sick of it as soon as it comes onto the radio. Others look forward to listening to it every year. Certain Christmas songs are notably more disliked than others; of five notoriously disliked Christmas classics, we asked Lancers what their least favorite tune was.

Among those who were familiar with the songs included, “Santa Baby” was the most unpopular, followed by “All I want for Christmas is you” by Mariah Carey. Tied for the third worst Christmas song were Paul McCartney’s 1979 hit “Wonderful Christmastime” and “Baby, it’s cold outside.”

When we asked respondents’ for their favorite Christmas songs, Lancers were allowed to input anything. We received various answers ranging from carols such as “Little drummer boy” and instrumental hit “Carol of the bells.” The most common favorite, however, was “All I want for Christmas is you”— the second most disliked of the five previously featured songs. Is Mariah Carey’s annual chart-topper popular among Lancers? One thing is for certain; the “Queen of Christmas” is polarizing.

Additionally, we asked if Lancers travel to see family for the holidays. The holidays are consistently the busiest time for travel, and a substantial portion of our respondents reported traveling to see family as a yearly tradition.

With traveling, gift-giving, family arguments and school finals, the holidays can be a stressful time for many. Students were split nearly fifty-fifty on whether they find the holidays to be stressful.

A large majority, (93.1 percent), of Lancers reported enjoying the holiday season even in spite of stress. Regardless, Lancers still had hot takes to share about the holidays!

When store shelves are stocked with Christmas products in September, it can be puzzling for many to pinpoint when “the holidays” start. Lancers had varying opinions on this topical issue.

Hot-takers were fiery, however had a soft spot for the famously dreadful Grinch, relating to him and empathizing with him as a misrepresented character.

Looking at these thoughtful responses, the Grinch’s heart would surely grow three sizes.

Below are various other notable hot-takes Lancers had about the holidays:

The end of the year is a time of rest for all of us. After finals, we need it! No matter what religion you may follow or whatever traditions you may practice, The Lancer Feed wishes you happy holidays and a happy new year!