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Photographed by Josephine Rosman (12-4)
With the approach of winter break and the holidays, many students may begin hearing questions from their parents regarding Christmas gifts. "What do you want?" "What are you getting your siblings?" "Are you getting anything for your friends?" All of these common inquiries revolve around holiday gift-giving, and in many cases, the jolly present-deliverer himself, Santa Claus. The fat man clothed in red can be heard booming his “Ho ho ho!” catchphrase everywhere around the holidays: in the mall, on the streets, on trains, at Macy’s department store, on television, and on the radio. Children around the world believe that on Christmas Eve, Santa Claus will come down their chimney and leave them presents. But once a child gets too old, too exposed, or too inquisitive, the magic -- for some -- disappears. I asked a few Masterman students about their experiences with the loss of this magic.
Luke Neale (9-3) claims that he had little to no parental interaction regarding Santa. “My parents never told me if he was real or fake, so I never believed in him. However, the year I told my parents that I thought he was fake, they replaced all my ‘from [mom and dad]’ stickers with ‘from Santa,’” says Luke. Tristan Bouyer (9-1) has a similar story. “I stopped believing ‘cause I was very skeptical ... I asked my mom and she said Santa was not a real thing, it’s just Dad putting stuff under the tree,” he recalls. Madison Kajuffa (9-2) had a similar experience. “I stopped believing when I saw my dad putting the presents under the tree,” says Madison.
Other children had the magic spoiled by classmates, such as Ben Steketee (10-4), who decided to put the myth to the test. “Kids at school were saying that Santa wasn't real, so I made a test and wished for a gift that I didn't tell anyone about, and then I didn't get it,” explains Ben.
Zack Wray (11-4) had by far the most in-depth story. “I was on the AAA baseball bench, playing on a team with older kids, and they were like, ‘Oh yeah, how did you find out?’ I didn’t know what was going on, I started feeling disoriented, and the realization started to dawn on me, [that] these older kids around me knew more about the world than I did, and it was sort of like an existential crisis because I was putting all the pieces together. I went along with it, but I was lying through my teeth because I didn’t know…and I was kind of resentful of my teammates. But now, looking back, I am thankful that they opened my eyes.”
Of course, many students at Masterman have never experienced the magic of Santa bursting into their homes with gifts, either because their families simply never ran with the story, or because they don’t celebrate Christmas.
“His whole life is a lie!” Shouts Mulugeta Tewelde (9-4), who wants to make it clear that he is Christian. “He’s some made-up guy so that parents who don’t wanna buy their kids gifts say, ‘Ooohhh, you’ve been NAUGHTY!!!’” Denny Cao (9-1) recalls a time when all of his Christian classmates still believed, and he had to hide what he knew from them. “In elementary school, one time, I thought I was ‘highly educated,’ and I told a kid that Santa wasn’t real, and he cried.”
There are some people who still believe, even through adulthood. “My stepmom and my dad will debate over if I still believe in Santa,” says Isaiah Giles (9-1). “My dad knows that I don’t, but my stepmom is still an avid believer. Like, I think she may not believe in Santa, but she definitely believes in the idea. So, she believes, but she doesn’t believe.”
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