It’s Christmas time, and the Christmas lights and trees are being put up everywhere you go.  I surveyed several study halls to see who had a real pine Christmas tree or fake tree.  While everyone has different Christmas traditions, decorating the tree is one of the most iconic Christmas traditions.  It was interesting to see what students seem to prefer.  

Of all the students and teachers I have surveyed, only 14 have a real pine tree; the rest have fake trees.  When I asked the teachers and students about why they did or did not have real trees, the results were quite broad.  The top three responses to not having a real pine Christmas tree were messy, costly, and induced allergies. The mess of the pine needles during Christmas can be tiresome.  Some students also have pets that would try to eat or get into the tree, so trees had to be fake.  The prices of the trees were also another reason for getting fake trees.  Faux trees can be initially expensive ($200-$300) but can be used for many years.  Real trees are initially less expensive ($50-100), but they need to be replaced each year, likely making maintaining a real Christmas tree more expensive in the long term. To all the ones responding to the question, “Is there any reason not have a real tree?” most of the answers were because it’s just what they have done as long as they can remember.  Truly, everyone has their own Christmas traditions and enjoys sharing those traditions with their family and friends in many different ways.  Whether your house smells of real pine or you have a picturesque faux tree that you use year to year, this is a Christmas tradition that lives on in the home of Dover students.