Worldwide Terps: Helping International Student-Athletes Celebrate The Holiday Season
The upcoming annual ISA Holiday Dinner will bring Maryland student-athletes from all walks of life together to celebrate and share in each other’s cultures.
Brady Ruth, Staff Writer
11/11/2025
With the holiday season right around the corner, Maryland Made and Worldwide Terps are once again partnering to provide Maryland’s student-athletes with opportunities to celebrate and find community.
On Nov. 18, the ISA Holiday Dinner will take place, giving international student-athletes who may not travel home for the holidays a sense of community and appreciation. With student-athletes from all over the world competing in College Park, the ISA Holiday Dinner will give them a chance to celebrate the holidays and share their culture with others.
“Being together is the main part of Argentinian holidays,” men’s soccer’s Mateo Caride said. “Christmas is a big deal in my family. We get everyone together. There’s like 30 of us from my dad’s side of the family. He has seven sisters, so I have a lot of cousins. All of the cousins usually play soccer and it gets way too competitive. We also play Truco, which is a card game. I usually win.”
The event will not only celebrate the holiday season but also highlight the university’s dedication to fostering an inclusive and supportive environment for student-athletes from around the world.
“I want to share some German holiday traditions with my teammates,” track and field star Annika Metzger said. “I plan to bring them some Lebkuchen and also make Plätzchen. I’ll ask my teammates if they’d like to join me for a little baking session to get into the holiday spirit together. My favorite holiday dish is Plätzchen — traditional German Christmas cookies. There are so many different kinds: some with chocolate, jam, nuts, or powdered sugar. I really enjoy baking them with my mom and grandma or with friends.”
On Nov. 18, student-athletes will get to fellowship over a meal with traditional holiday dishes and international desserts. The ISA Holiday Dinner is designed to be a warm, inclusive event where athletes can relax, share stories, and celebrate their diverse backgrounds in a family-like setting.
“Asado is my favorite dish,” Caride said. “It’s barbecue, but it’s made on a charcoal grill and we have all different cuts of meat. We usually serve it with salad or vegetables.”
“My favorite holiday dish is called ‘Lion’s Head,’ which is stewed meatballs with napa cabbage,” women’s tennis’ Katherine Hung said. “It’s a traditional dish we eat during Chinese New Year, and my mom makes it every year. It’s one of my favorites because it reminds me of family and celebration.”
Hung hails from Taiwan, bringing another culture and group of traditions to Maryland’s diverse student-athlete population.
“My favorite holiday is Chinese New Year,” she said. “It’s the time when all my family members gather at my grandparents’ house to celebrate together. We write spring couplets with lucky phrases and hang them on the doors and walls to bring good fortune. Then, we enjoy a big family dinner with many traditional dishes, each carrying a special meaning. After dinner, all the aunts, uncles, and grandparents give us red envelopes with money inside to wish us good luck for the upcoming year!”
This year’s ISA Holiday Dinner theme is “Belonging and Becoming” and the student-athletes in attendance will receive exclusive shirts with the motto.
“We don’t have Thanksgiving (in Argentina), so all of my teammates have invited me to their houses for Thanksgiving so that I can experience it,” Caride said. “The Argentinian traditions are really about being together, but for New Year’s, we always go out dressed in white so I hope to share that with the team.”
The dinner will take place one day after International Student Day during an important time of the year for those studying and competing abroad.
“My favorite holiday tradition is the time in December around Christmas,” Metzger said. “I really enjoy the Sundays because we have an Adventskranz, which is a wreath made of evergreen branches with four candles, used to count down the four Sundays before Christmas. Each Sunday, one more candle is lit and I can really feel how Christmas is coming closer. I love the atmosphere at Christmas markets with the festive decorations everywhere.”
As the holidays get closer, the Maryland Athletics Department encourages all international student-athletes to attend and celebrate the season together. Events like this remind the community that the spirit of sport is not just about competition — it’s about connection.
