New Year’s Tradition: How people spend their new year’s

photo credit: Ava Boccio

New Year’s is a holiday where people spend time with their friends and family to celebrate the year coming to an end and a new one starting. New Year’s celebrations go way back; the first one was around 2000  B.C. in ancient Mesopotamia, which is now modern day Iraq, according to Time.

People also travel a lot for New Year’s over the long break. Most people tend to go on vacations during the break because it’s a good way to start the new year and spend quality time with loved ones.

“For the new year, I am going to Naples, Florida with my family,” sophomore Gabriela Tiberi said.

New Year’s is a good way to catch up with those who people don’t see that often, and a lot of people plan to stay up late for New Year’s.                                                                                                                                                                            “I’m going to stay up late and spend time with my family who lives far away,” freshman Ann Camphausen said.

Most people look forward to the New Year’s because they can see and celebrate with everyone. Also, the food at New Year’s parties can be really good. Some popular foods people eat on New Year’s Day which people think are lucky are, pork, grapes, pomegranates, fish, noodles and rice, cake, black-eyed peas, collard greens, and cornbread, according to allrecipes.

“I am very excited for New Year’s because it’s really fun hanging out with everyone. I also look forward to eating because my family makes a ton of food,” Tiberi said.

Another tradition for New Year’s is watching the ball drop. A lot of people stay up until 12:00 a.m. to watch the ball drop and celebrate the first seconds into the New Year.

“I’m going to watch ‘Dick Clark’s Rockin ‘New Year’s’ eve ball drop and make a lot of food,” Camphausen said.

People get to celebrate the New Year with friends too instead of just their family. It can be a good time to connect with people who you don’t see much because of being on winter break.

“I get to see some of my best friends from my church camp when I go to Florida and see my family of course,” Tiberi said.

This is another example of people spending time and visiting those who live far away.  Winter break can bring people together because they spend quality time together. “I’m taking a trip to my aunt’s house to spend the night with someone who lives four hours away,” Camphausen said.