By: Eduardo Galindo

With Thanksgiving over and people already preparing for Christmas, other important holidays are often overlooked during this time of year. This is a collection of November holidays that are important to remember. 

This year on the first day of November, is when National Stress Awareness Day is celebrated. It happens on the first Wednesday of every November; Wednesday was chosen for this holiday since the middle of the week is the most stressful time for some people. And so, on this day, do something that will help you relax. Physical activity like exercise or yoga could help with that or spending time to yourself reading a book or taking a nap can relieve stress. 

The purpose of this holiday is to inform people on how to recognize and manage stress. It is important to recognize stress as it can affect us negatively and cause lots of issues physically and mentally. Especially in school where we are expected to do well even if we have a lot on our plate with schoolwork, sports, extracurriculars, or a job that can give us more stress and anxiety than we should ever have. So we need to keep a watchful eye on ourselves to prevent stress from being too impactful on us.

This is a holiday that should be remembered and celebrated because managing stress is very important for us to maintain a healthy life. So informing others of stress can help others with their struggles and stress that they are dealing with. To celebrate, talk to others about stress and its effects and together find ways to relieve that stress. 

Next on November 8 is National Stem/Steam Day which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts), and Math. This holiday is to encourage kids to be more interested in steam and to get minorities which have been underrepresented in steam to be more involved. Steam is important to be teaching kids because this is how we can teach them to think outside the box and find solutions to problems. 

These skills will help them solve larger problems surrounding our world. This is why it’s important to celebrate National Stem/Steam Day. By celebrating it will give kids a gateway to learn steam and express creativity.

Next is international tolerance day on the 16th and it’s all about listening to others. It’s about hearing others’ ideas and world views that are different from our own and respecting those ideas and views even if it’s hard. Without respecting the ideas of others people won’t be able to express parts of themselves that are important to them. Which is why it’s important to keep an open mind to ensure people can express themselves.

This is important to remember because to connect and bond with others we need to keep an open mind and let others be themselves. This holiday should be celebrated to spread more positivity around the world and in our community. To celebrate this holiday, create something that represents these ideas and share it.

Finally on the 24 the day after Thanksgiving, is the National Day of Listening. On this day we listen to each other’s stories and experiences. Friends, family, loved ones gather to talk and have meaningful conversations with each other. It’s important to learn about each other to create closer bonds with our friends and family. And it will help us be more comfortable with each other and stay connected. 

This holiday is important to remember as it connects us to each other and gives more perspectives into the people we know. To celebrate it, find some way to preserve your stories for the future.  

Holidays are ways to celebrate important events but also to remind ourselves to be glad for the things we have and for the relationships we have with others. Remember to celebrate these holidays when they happen but they don’t only need to be celebrated that day. You could do these whenever you want.