Words are strong in their capacity to connect people and portray thoughts or ideas, but where communication fails and words cannot express the feelings one has for another, gift giving becomes a uniquely heartfelt avenue for the conveyance of gratitude, love, sentimentality and closeness. As the holiday season approaches and gift giving starts to gain prominence in the public consciousness, students reflect on the gifts that have impacted their lives significantly and share the story behind them.
When asked the most important gift he had received, senior Maxwell Ritter responded, “My grandfather’s tools.” To many this may be an unconventional gift, but to Ritter the significance couldn’t be any greater.
“My grandfather was an intelligent man. He was gifted, he could lead and he could create things, but he didn’t have a really great education. He had these tools that he would take to job sites so he could find work, and through all his tough times those tools got him through them. When my dad was young, he picked up the tools, and he started working with them. He inherited those tools after my grandfather had a stroke, and then my dad gave those tools to me when it was my time to work. I’m building my family home with them now… I both inherited his responsibilities and his skill through those tools,” said Ritter.
For Ritter, these tools are not just a way for him to work on his farmstead and develop himself as a craftsman, but a symbolic passing of the torch representing the generations of hard work that have gone into building a secure livelihood. Growing up on a farm, Ritter said, has “shaped my very being through the struggles of farm life…it made me into the man I am today.”
For senior Zachary Kang, his most prominent holiday memories revolve around a connection to the sights and sounds of his first gaming system, and a prominent connection to his father.
“Picture this, It’s my birthday, and I had gotten my 3DS the year before…I’m absolutely in love with it but I’m starting to get bored. My dad, very non specifically, says “Hey look, it’s Legends of Zelda,” Legends of Zelda? What nerdy nonsensical debauchery is that? I didn’t know what it was…but my dad convinces me and tells me about all the times he stayed over at his friend’s house playing the original game. I got it, absolutely unaware of what it was. When I first loaded it up, there was something quite disturbingly interesting about the game. It was much darker than any book I had read or movie I had watched before…I was mesmerized by the labyrinthine architecture of the first area, the macabre atmosphere and the constant presence of death…I think what really stuck with me was the sheer creative energy and power held within the game. [Majora’s Mask] was deeply impactful to how I conceive and conceptualize many things, particularly death,” Kang elaborated.
The power of art in shaping someone’s creativity and personality are undeniable. Kang, now a lifetime creative in video production, art and music, cites his experiences with the game as formative.
Senior Marisa Jones shared her own experiences with gift giving, sharing the story behind a bracelet that she wears daily.
“The best gift I ever received was from my mom. She gave me this bracelet that she had, with lava rock beads spaced intermittently between jade and malachite…She had noticed that I had been picking up a lot of crystal bracelets and getting into jewelry…she took this bracelet that she liked and wore regularly and decided that she would give it to me, and it was probably the most meaningful gift I’ve received. It showed that she was paying attention to me and my interests,” Jones recalled.
The gifts that stay with students for the rest of their lives are the ones that extend beyond a simple gesture into an expression of care from a loved one. Often, it becomes easy for people to take for granted the friends and family which constantly surround them, but with small gestures of kindness and appreciation one can reignite old connections or strengthen pre-existing ones by shining a light upon gratitude.
