University of Dayton - MyLife

Christmas on Campus

No matter how busy and hectic students are with getting ready for finals and such, Christmas on Campus is the one event everyone in the UD community participates in...and you can count on it being a wonderful experience each year. To give a brief synopsis of this event, Christmas on Campus is the one day each year when the entire campus is transformed into a Christmas celebration for kids. Young grade school children are bused into campus from all over the city of Dayton to be adopted by a UD student for the night. The students buy the children gifts and take them around campus all evening so that they can participate in many fun Christmas-related events. They can even wait in line to sit on Santa's lap! This is one campus event I would never miss and it's great because almost everyone participates. Even faculty and staff members bring their own children to campus for this magical night.

In the past I have adopted a child and helped with the buses, but this year I got to do something even more unique: I was an Elf! I was so fortunate to be one of the characters that walk around campus all evening talking to the kids. So I dressed up in a fun elf costume and had a blast talking to the children all evening. It was so much fun telling them all about the North Pole. They asked me questions like how reindeer can fly and if we really do work all year round to make presents for kids throughout the world. One girl became separated from her mom at one part during the evening so she came up to me, the elf, to help her! It was so nice to play such an integral part in making these kids' Christmas on Campus experience memorable! Although it was sad to think this was my last Christmas on Campus as a UD student, it was such a great night that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Dec 15, 2008 6:53 PM Permalink