Turkey Term: What is Westy Looking Forward to?

By ​Tarapi Pyo ‘24

After a quick week of Thanksgiving break, students returned to their adored Westminster campus for Turkey (or Candlelight) Term – two and a half weeks of school before Winter break. Black SUVs, Toyotas, and white sedans packed outside the dorms. Parents and students unloaded students and luggage from their cars, hauling heavy suitcases and bags into rooms. However, these students are evidently more preoccupied with “hellos” and “I miss yous” to and from friends they see on their way into the dorms. ​

Christmas themes decorate the hallways in the dorms. Friends are reunited and lively chatter fills the air. After a week of absence, students, faculty, and cherished community members walk to the dining hall and are welcomed back by a large Christmas tree as they open the door. The tree looks like what we would expect of a Christmas tree, but its specialty lies in its unique creation; all of the Westy community are invited to decorate the tree as they see fit, a vision of a collection of ornaments hung by everyone’s shared creativity. Across the dining hall, in the Armor Academic Center, an unusual Christmas tree graces the community with its presence; in the library, a “Christmas tree” comprised of books greets students when they come to study, hang out with friends, or play fun board games. The library, particularly out of all the locations on campus, is the most beautifully decorated, with all the credit given to our most thoughtful and imaginative librarians.

As these Christmas decorations brighten up the school, they successfully cheer students up. A highlight of the Turkey term is the Candlelight service, a common favorite tradition on campus. As the service proceeds, all worries become replaced by the festivity and calmness surrounding the whole community. Exuberance spreads around the campus, and the general consensus is that Turkey term is a wonderful short period leading up to the holidays that brings the community together.