Simply put, there is a reason that so many of the holidays that we celebrate today lie around a seasonal change. The changing of the seasons marks a moment of rebirth and transformation both physically and spiritually. Whether it is leaves changing color during the fall or the blooming of cherry blossoms during the spring, you can see why humans centered their holidays around something as beautiful as the changing of the seasons. This leaves us with one question: What is the deal with Groundhog’s Day?

Groundhog’s Day is like any other “seasonal change” holiday except for one small difference. Instead of relying on an astronomical clock or a physical change in nature to determine the turning point of a season, the holiday hinges upon whether or not a groundhog—also known as a woodchuck—sees its shadow, a totally nonsensical practice at first glance.

The origin of Groundhog Day began in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and for the past 130 years, Punxsutawney has consistently celebrated Groundhog Day. As tradition goes, a groundhog will end its three-month-long hibernation on February 2 to establish if either spring will begin early or if there will be six more months of winter. To do this, the groundhog must come out of its burrow and check if it can see its shadow. If it can’t see its shadow, then it is a signal of mild weather, leading to an early spring. However, if it can see its shadow, then it will go back into hibernation since there will be another six weeks of winter.

Now, as you may expect, it’s been proven that the validity of a groundhog’s predictions are somewhat lacking. In fact, it’s been reported that the groundhog’s seasonal predictions have only been accurate 39 percent of the time within the past 50 years. Essentially, you’d have a better chance of predicting the end of winter by flipping a coin than relying on a groundhog, but that shouldn’t be the takeaway of this story.

Rather than accuracy, the charm of the holiday lies in its quirkiness. The people of Punxsutawney don’t necessarily put stock in the predictions of the groundhog, but the holiday brings them together as a community. The town has garnered media attention and tourists who wish to participate in the February 2 holiday. It has inspired a movie and even a musical. It has transitioned from an event solely about the change of a season into a niche and wacky celebration which promotes communal support and joy. As far as the essence of what makes a seasonal holiday special, Groundhog Day, while unorthodox, captures it perfectly.

While “The Nutcracker” story and ballet might be new to some people, Chen’s studio has formed a holiday culture around the play. “Our studio puts on the production every year, so it has become kind of like a tradition,” she said. “This is my third time being in it.”

With show dates fast approaching, practices and rehearsals have started to require a lot of Chen’s time. “We have mostly weekend rehearsals, and they have been pretty long and tiring recently,” she said. “But all the work always pays off in the end.”

The variety of roles throughout the ballet allows all of the dancers to learn different parts each year, Chen adds. “I’m part of the Snow and Flower corps,” she said. “[I am also part of] the Mirliton corps and am the lead Russian soloist.” A corps, according to Chen, is a large group of dancers who perform onstage as an ensemble.

For future dancers who wish to perform in “The Nutcracker,” Chen advises others to start by researching the ballet. “Learning the whole ‘Nutcracker’ plot is really important,” she said. “Watching a lot of ballet and even seeing another production of the ballet would be really helpful for reference.”

Originally, “The Nutcracker” was based on a German fairytale called “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” The story follows the main character, Clara, as she attends a Christmas party hosted by her parents. At the party, she receives an ugly Nutcracker doll that she immediately loves. When the guests leave, mice invade Clara’s house and the Nutcracker comes to life, revealing himself to be a long-lost prince. After a fearsome battle, she travels to the fictional Land of Sweets, the home of her Nutcracker Prince. Together, Clara and the Prince encounter many characters, including the Sugar Plum Fairy, and experience the cultures of a variety of countries. Each country is represented by a native delicacy—for example, chocolate from Spain, tea from China and licorice from Russia. This dreamlike tale lends itself to creativity, childishness and excitement, creating an atmosphere that has entranced audiences for decades.

In 1892, the plot was adapted into a full-length ballet performance with a musical score by Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky and original choreography by French choreographers Marius Petipa and Lea Ivanov. “The Nutcracker” is now one of the most popular ballets of all time, with almost every professional ballet company in the world presenting annual productions. In the winter, companies perform this ballet for weeks at a time. The most well-known ballet theaters that hold these performances include San Francisco Ballet (San Francisco), American Ballet Theatre (New York City) and Bolshoi Ballet (Moscow).

“The Nutcracker” spreads the festive atmosphere globally. Its music, such as that of the “Waltz of the Flowers” and the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” is internationally recognized, even by those who aren’t familiar with its origin. Since the story was released into the public domain in 1892, this tale has been referenced in modern works so often that many find it cliché. In fact, this timeworn classic has been reimagined within multiple genres numerous times.

In the 1960s, for instance, legendary jazz musicians Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn arranged the album “Nutcracker Suites,” a swing and jazz adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s original work. This work stands alongside many other adaptations of “The Nutcracker.” “The Looney Tunes,” “Tom and Jerry” and “The Simpsons” are all shows that have released episodes parodying the ballet. There have also been a dozen or so movies based on “The Nutcracker.” Ultimately, however, the original ballet wins when it comes to longevity.

While different Christmas stories have come and gone, “The Nutcracker” has remained popular, with new versions released each holiday season. After a century of the same longstanding story, why has “The Nutcracker” persevered for this long?

The key to this ballet’s success is magic. The winter holidays are times when families and friends get together to make merriment and enjoy each other’s company as the year ends in an enchanting fashion. “The Nutcracker” encapsulates the magic that makes this time of year as special as it is, providing wonder and thrills in a tangible way: a story.

Colleges usually start scouting athletes way before senior year, according to Stanford Associate Athletic Director Mike Eubanks who is the coordinator for all recruiting activities at Stanford University. “High school athletes recruitment could start anywhere from 10th to 12th grade,” Eubanks said. “It depends on what their playing time opportunity, physical maturation and their visibility has been through high school.”

Of course, there are restrictions on how soon colleges can start communicating with high school athletes and how soon they can sign athletes, according to senior Aubrey Cantrell, a swimmer who has competed since she was three years old. “Junior year is when they can reach out to you, which is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rule,” she said. “Before that, you aren’t allowed to talk to coaches about recruiting. You can’t call them and they can’t call you.”

However, Eubanks added that even with the NCAA’s restrictions, technology and videos have made evaluating athletes and their abilities a much faster and easier process. The introduction of video technology has given colleges the avenue to explore the potential of all athletes, including athletes from smaller towns. “A lot more kids get a chance to play in college because they can be
seen and they can be found,” he said. “You don’t have to be on a name-brand high school team for someone to see you.”

In an orthodox setting, coaches would alert freshman players that recruitment was an option for college. However, with COVID-19, the process has been prolonged for most athletes, including senior Shauntel Lim, a diver who has been competing for the past nine years. “[Recruiting] was very different compared to years past,” she said. “Normally, you would exchange statistics, then
they would offer you trips to campus, which includes five official visits and then you commit in the fall, but with COVID-19, obviously, it has been different.”

COVID-19 has easily made the recruitment process much more difficult, with emails and zoom meetings having to happen more frequently instead of other types of personalized interactions between college and athlete. “It was basically just emailing updates, back and forth for like a year,” Lim said.

Cantrell also echoed a similar narrative about the impacts of COVID-19. However, some schools have reinstituted in-person visits, beginning the transition back to normalcy. “It’s different because of COVID-19 but I just had a visit last weekend,” Cantrell said. “They bring you on campus, introduce you to the team and you get to see the facility. You get to shadow a student athlete and get a day in the life.”

Traditionally, the recruitment process for students doesn’t truly kick off until the summer of junior year. However, colleges will have been looking at prospective athletes far before that year. “Typically, there’s an evaluation during or at the end of that sophomore season,” Eubanks said. “The process is cyclic. There are opportunities during the offseason like camps and games. Then, you are back to the fall again, and now they have junior year film.”

As evaluations and academic reports start to build up, athletes will communicate more with schools. “Communication between athletes and colleges can be mailers, direct messages, text messages, or emails,” Eubanks said. “Phone calls and verbal communication come later down the line, but that stuff starts in earnest around the fall.”

The next step would be visiting the school. For sports, this could mean visiting the university campus, shadow-
ing the practices or going to games. The objective for the college is to determine whether the athlete is a good fit for the team. “If the interest is mutual, then that culminates in the recruit coming to the campus to make a visit,” Eubanks said. “In the offseason, I think that the visits and tours become more robust because there is more time for both parties.”

The final step would be verbal confirmations and exchanging signatures, but those steps are personalized to each individual athlete and how the college wishes to inform them of their interest. “At the end of the day, everyone signs in December at the same time,” Eubank said.“If it is an efficient market, [you hope] that kids are getting the opportunities they deserve and that coaches are getting the right players.”

With all of that extra time, my family and I started watching every major movie franchise we could remember. For the first three months, we watched movies after movies almost nonstop on weekends. That time amounted to almost 120 hours of TV and movies, not counting random TV shows, watching YouTube or time spent surfing the web. I would have never watched anywhere near that much if not for the pandemic, but with the extra time, I thought, “Why not?” 

It turns out that while TV, social media and the internet are fantastic pastimes, they can be extremely addicting and counterproductive. The effect of constant technology and media exposure during quarantine made transitioning back to in-person school a lot harder.

When we first came back to school, my mindset had to change significantly. I didn’t have to interact with people face-to-face during quarantine, so I wasn’t used to chatting spontaneously or engaging with people who I haven’t seen in a while. So as expected, I turned to technology as an avoidance mechanism. I started hiding behind my phone during the passing periods and before classes, sheltering myself from socially uncomfortable situations. I had grown unaccustomed to the social pressures of school and allowed the quarantine to save me from dealing with the social anxiety that once plagued me.

This made life hard. Taking the “easy,” non-interactive road became increasingly difficult as I started to do more things with my peers, like extracurricular activities. If I acted distantly, that would affect the way others viewed me and worked with me, which would subsequently affect the way I worked. So, I made an effort to change how I acted. I started to initiate conversations, hang out with friends after school and work more closely with those around me.

At first, it was torture. As an introvert, I have never been outgoing or socially confident. I was completely comfortable with how I was. However, just being engaged made my relationships with my peers a lot less stressful and a lot more meaningful. I began to feel more comfortable, and slowly, I started to undo the effects of constant media consumption during quarantine. 

In retrospect, it’s obvious to me that quarantine limited my interactions, which, in turn, limited my relationships. Media could somewhat fill the space left by the lack of relationships and social interactions which was good for a time. However, once I was reintroduced to in-person school and face-to-face interactions, those same screens that once helped me become a hindrance and an obstacle. Through effort and a commitment to changing harmful habits, anyone can once again flourish in an in-person relationship.

Prior to Gunn, Gomez was the Menlo-Atherton High School registrar and spent five years there while studying to become a counselor in his university’s education graduate program. “I knew what I wanted to do and what my passion was, and that’s what made me become a counselor,” he said.

Gomez’s former experience as a registrar has helped him transition into the role of a counselor and better support Gunn students in all aspects of their high school careers. “I understand the fast-paced environment that’s here at Gunn, which has allowed me to transition smoothly,” he said.

With the introduction of new counselors, some of the pre-existing counselors have shifted some of their senior students to Gomez. As a result, it may be difficult for Gomez to write a quality recommendation letter or to support seniors with college applications. However, Gomez believes that he can still form strong relationships with seniors, regardless of time. “I’m looking forward to helping students to achieve what they want to achieve and being able to reach out to those around me,” he said.