Misael Gomez, Sports Editor
As the holiday season rolls in and everyone is starting to brainstorm gift ideas for their loved ones, it’s comforting to look back at the simpler times when we were children and still believed in the things that we lost touch with as we grew older. For many of us, Santa Claus was a big part of our holiday celebrations. Some wrote lists, others baked cookies to put in front of the fireplace—all in the name of the magical man who did nothing all year-round except prepare for the one day of the year that he could reward to children who were well-behaved. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and our dreams of Santa eventually ruined one way or another. Let’s take a look into how different students of Mills High School found out that Santa Claus was never, in fact, real.
It’s a character building moment when a child is hit with reality, so finding out the truth about Santa Claus can leave mixed feelings. For Isabella Bendana (12), it was an emotional discovery recalling, “My cousin ruined it for me when I was like 8 and I cried.” For others like Matthew Aldana (12), however, it was more of a ‘connecting the dots’ moment: “We had Christmas at a hotel in Lake Tahoe so Christmas morning we had no tree for the presents to go and there was no chimney. Also when we got to the hotel my dad was carrying a big bag which I suspected were presents.”
Isabella Vaka (12) had a similar story to tell, except her suspicions developed as she aged. She said it all started when, “My parents would label my presents as “from santa” and I [would] leave milk & cookies out even though I’d usually open presents on Christmas Eve, so that obviously made little sense. However, I believe it finally struck me when I realized that I didn’t have a chimney. Then, I think I was Anti-Santa from that point on.” Although these students had to either learn from someone else or use their detective skills to get to the bottom of the case, other students never fell into the trap.
For some people it might be hard to believe, however there are students who never really believed in St. Nick. For example, Victoria Williams (12) looked back at her childhood trying to remember why she never thought Santa was real, admitting that she, “just got old enough and used logic and was like yeah he’s not real.” For others like Nick Shek (12), though, they used their knowledge of a non-existing Santa Claus to their advantage. Skek remembers that as a kid, he, “always knew [that Santa wasn’t real] but I never let my parents know so I’d get presents.” Some may call it evil, but I call it genius.
While the previous students at one point knew Santa was possibly real, David Cortez (12) admits he never remembered believing in Santa at all. As weird as it sounds, since his childhood Cortez recalls, “I don’t even remember thinking Santa was real.” Regardless of when or how people realized Santa Claus isn’t real, what matters most about the holiday season is celebrating each of our religious and non-religious beliefs, and showing our care for those we love.
As children, we always looked forward to receiving gifts from the man whose purpose was to bring joy by delivering presents to all of the children and adults of the world. But once we were told the truth about Santa Claus, December 25th morphed into a day of showing those you love how much you care about them in the form of gifts. The holiday season will always be a time of togetherness and gift giving, regardless of what you do or don’t believe in. So the Mills Thunderbolt wishes all of you a great vacation, and a great holiday season!
