With over 140 million babies born year to year, it’s not uncommon for birthdays to fall on the same day as popularly celebrated holidays. Some see the pros to a holiday birthday while others only see the cons. If the holiday isn’t “major”, it can simply serve as a fun fact for holiday birthday babies. On the other hand, if your birthday falls on one of the “big dogs”, like Christmas or Thanksgiving, one’s special day can oftentimes be overlooked. It is safe to say that everybody with a birthday near a holiday is impacted differently based on their experiences.

Senior Mariana De La Cruz’s birthday, November 29th, sometimes falls on Thanksgiving or Black Friday. While this isn’t detrimental and doesn’t affect De La Cruz very much, sometimes she feels she isn’t acknowledged as much as others on her birthday because people are focused on turkey and deals. “At least it’s not Christmas,” De La Cruz said.

Sometimes a holiday can have so little impact on one’s birthday that they don’t even remember it exists. When sophomore Emma Cella pondered on the day of her birthday, February 2nd, she thought that it was sort of close to Valentine’s Day but ultimately, it didn’t affect her. Cella’s February birthday falls on Groundhog Day, however, the fact that she repeatedly forgets this fact proves the holiday’s significance in her eyes. “I even forgot that my birthday was on Groundhog Day earlier today. Since it’s not a very important or impactful holiday, it’s not that different,” Cella said.

For sophomore Sydney Peterson, her December 30th birthday causes many of the fun celebrated events of the year to be suppressed into just one month. However, Peterson is not significantly impacted by her birthday being so close to Christmas and New Year’s. “Sometimes I don’t like it because people think they can give me presents and say [that it’s] for my birthday and Christmas,” Peterson said.

Junior Lilah Voltin is suppressed by her birthday being on the day of the leprechaun, St. Patrick’s Day. Every year, March 17th haunts Voltin with the demons of the leprechaun’s past. She feels incredibly overshadowed by the leprechaun and wishes her birthday wasn’t on such a holiday. “Sometimes I don’t wear green and get pinched on my birthday. Really sad,” Voltin said.

For others, birthdays being near holidays can be seen as a good thing. Sophomore Annie Mullin’s birthday is November 1st, one day after Halloween. While acknowledging that people are often depressed due to Halloween celebrations coming to an end, Mullin likes having something to look forward to after the holiday. Sophomore Maddie Peterson feels similarly. Peterson’s birthday is December 30th, and she feels that people become very sad directly after Christmas because the holiday is over. She beats this seasonal sadness by celebrating her birthday soon after. Despite this pro, Peterson does sometimes wish that her birthday was in the middle of the year. “Everyone gets so depressed after Christmas because Christmas is over, but I’m like, ‘Oh my God, my birthday is in five days’,” Peterson said.

Overall, having a birthday near a holiday is a very polarizing thing and both pros and cons can be identified. Having a birthday close to a holiday is something that everyone processes differently and the holiday they are born near plays a big role in their opinion.