North High Student Spending Christmas in New York

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Pictured: Katherynne Sanchez Cruz (photo: Evelyn Baxton)

Evelyn Baxton, Journalism I

With the holiday season quickly approaching, those who celebrate Christmas are anxiously planning for the big day, whether that means binge watching Christmas movies and baking, or making a list of excuses to avoid relatives on Christmas day.

Part of every family’s planning is figuring out travel details. Driving to your aunt’s house in Wisconsin? Going to your grandpa’s house up North? For most of us though, those travel plans don’t involve flying to New York!

Early in the morning on December 24th, North High junior Katherynne Sanchez Cruz is hopping on a plane to the Big Apple. Since moving from New York to Minnesota at the beginning of her freshmen year, she goes back to visit about 4-5 times a year. Sanchez Cruz says the reason she celebrates in New York rather than Minnesota is because “I have basically my whole entire family in New York and the rest are in the Dominican Republic”. The holidays are all about families, some spread farther away than others, but it’s important to spend the time together! Her family doesn’t have a lot of traditions, but she says they always wake up super early on Christmas day just to be together and open their gifts. What’s the big difference between New York and Minnesota around the holidays? “The holiday season is a lot more hectic in New York, mostly because it’s a really busy city and Minnesota is less crowded”, she says. For those of us who haven’t had the pleasure of visiting New York around the holidays, we might have fallen for an illusion. Sanchez Cruz says the one misconception she would like to set straight is, “Everyone always thinks that people that live in New York all go to Times Square the 24th and 31st, but that’s mostly tourists, they like to be on camera I guess. Everyone I know is with their families having a nice time in their warm house”.