By the Office of Campus Ministry 

The holiday season is here, and at Georgetown Prep the Season is about hope, faith, grace, and celebration. With a diverse community of students, our halls are buzzing with stories of cherished traditions from around the world. Everyone brings a unique piece of their heritage to share. In this blog, we’re excited to highlight some of our students’ favorite holiday traditions that make the Season so special.

Most winters, my family heads back to Beirut to celebrate Christmas with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. We travel into the foggy mountains for a Midnight Mass, then catch a few hours of sleep before my aunt wakes us to help prepare lunch. Three hours later and with grayer hair, we look down upon our Christmas feast. The dinner table is stacked with lamb chops, kibbeh (ground meat with onions and nuts), kafta, a whole chicken with sides of toum (garlic sauce) and hummus, and pastries from my uncle's local patisserie. Sitting side by side with family and friends, we savor each bite, exchange stories, and linger after, listening to Fairuz while sipping coffee and playing FIFA. - Peter Karaki ‘25

During Hanukkah, my family and I celebrate by lighting the menorah each night. We enjoy traditions like playing dreidel, sharing stories, and indulging in festive foods like latkes served alongside applesauce. - Michael Newman ’25

My family usually has some friends over for Christmas. We celebrate together, and talk about things we did during the year, and at the end, we open gifts. During the day, I spend time with my friends and really enjoy being together. - Priyanshu Singh ’26

Back home in Guinea-Bissau, Christmas is a huge deal. It is a time of relaxation, family time, and food. Every year, at noon on December 24, every store is closed, and Christmas Eve commemoration begins.

Christmas for my family begins at 8:00 p.m. at the local church for a service. We use this time to pray and give thanks for our opportunity to be together, and we also use this service to pray for my deceased grandfather, who used to be a big part of our commemorations.

Once the Mass is over, we head to my grandmother’s house, a two-minute walk from the church, to begin our celebration. As soon as we walk in, some old-school Bissau-Guinean music plays and your nose gets filled with different aromas from Portugal and France, as well as dishes from Guinea-Bissau.

We gather around a huge dinner table and eat together passing around all the side dishes and enjoying time spent together. After dinner my cousins and I head over to the living room to play on our Nintendo Switch. The fan favourite game is Just Dance. - Ruben Rosa Benicio ’25

A few days before Christmas, my sisters and I gather with my cousins for a cookie baking day. We make the recipes that have been passed down by our grandparents and the day is a very special holiday tradition. - Griffin Lydon ’25