May is often associated with warming temperatures, longer days and a welcome departure from April’s torrential showers. Holidays and celebrations are another integral part of the month, marking both essential recognitions from Asian American Pacific Islander heritage month and brain cancer awareness month to light hearted festivities like national barbecue month.

If you have an idea for a national holiday, there are a couple of ways you can make it happen.  A company or person can declare a holiday and people can choose to follow it, according to marketplace.org. Another way a national holiday can be created is through nationaldaycalendar.com. You can submit a request to have a national holiday added to the calendar through the website, though only a few are accepted.

Madison Metcalfe, a DePaul junior, expressed her desire to create her own holiday to commemorate overlooked tragedies.

“I would have my own national holiday, not really a holiday, but I would like to have a national memorial day for the Tulsa Race Massacre on May 31st,” Metcalfe said.

Despite few knowing how holidays are created, Metcalfe include, the idea remains intriguing.

Sarah Agolia, a junior at DePaul, believes the range of national holidays are exciting. She has even kept track of some of her favorite national holidays.

“I think it’s fun,” Agolia said.  “I used to keep track of fun holidays like National Ice Cream Day.”

While Agolia admits that creating her own national holiday could be fun, the challenge of coming up with an original idea remains overwhelming.

”I think there are so many national holidays that anything I could come up with may already be a holiday,” Agolia said.

Kate Whitcomb, a sophomore, conveyed interest in the notion that anyone could create their own holiday.

“I thought it had to be done by a figure of authority and for a serious reason. I think it is interesting that you can do this because we should be able to celebrate what we want,” Whitcomb said.

Whitcomb also said that she knows there are several important holidays this month, not including the funny ones you don’t see on a normal calendar.

“I know Memorial Day and Mother’s Day are in May this year along with Cinco de Mayo. May is also Mental Health Awareness Month and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. A lesser known one but important to me is that May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month,” Whitcomb said.

While only holidays located on a calendar may be officially recognized by the general public, it is entertaining to see the near infinite amount of national festivities within the month. Although the endless celebrations can be potentially labeled overkill, it is still a unique aspect that resides within the month.