It's that time of the year again. Thanksgiving has come and gone. The Christmas lights are up. The shopping sprees have begun. Finals, papers and projects plague students as the winter holidays approach. In the midst of it all, we somehow have to make things work.

One thing that has helped me get through times like this is tradition. Before you think I'm going to go on and on about Notre Dame tradition, I'm not. Notre Dame's tradition is great. Although there are many wonderful activities at Notre Dame in the coming Christmas season, they are not tradition for me.

Christmas time is when my brothers, my sister and I get together and practice our music for the prelude to the children's Mass. We sing Christmas carols and watch the Nativity pageant performance.

For me, Christmas tradition is making cookies with my brothers, sister and my parents. We mix them from scratch and bake them until the house smells like a confectionary. Christmas means going out and picking a tree together, putting up lights around the house and putting up all the pieces of artwork that we've made dating back to preschool. We roll piecrusts for pumpkin, apple and cream pies. We sit together around the table spreading tamales.

Part of that tradition includes giving. My family makes tamales at Christmas. My mother and father have practiced this since before they were married. We've always left a glass of milk, a plate of cookies and a plate of tamales for Santa. And while we make some tamales for us to eat ourselves, we make most of them to give to friends of the family as Christmas gifts.

So this year, I wanted to bring some of my family tradition to Notre Dame, because it just didn't seem like the holidays until I got home and wanted to change that. So I made tamales for some of my friends. Not only has that helped me to get more into the spirit of the upcoming holidays, it also provided me with an outlet for all of the hustle and bustle of finals.

We are all busy at this time of the year. Time is of the essence. Find something to make it easier, to help you through it. Make the most of your time. Enjoy the rare, warm December days in South Bend.

Then give something to someone. Give a coat to St. Vincent de Paul, canned food to the Center for the Homeless or socks to the AED sock drive. Give gifts to your friends. Not all gifts come with a price tag.

I don't know what your family traditions are. I don't know how you celebrate the holidays. But however you do, in whatever way, share that spirit with your classmates, your roommates, your teachers and your friends.

I wish you the best of luck on your final exams, safe travel home and back again, and a fun, relaxing holiday.

Merry Christmas.

• It is in giving