As the holidays draw near, gift exchanges are popping up not just along the halls of CHS, but all around the city. Different gift exchanges have different unique histories as well as unique names.

White elephant. We’ve all gotten a gift stolen in this particular holiday gift exchange. The name “White Elephant” originated from Asian countries where white elephants were considered holy but they were very expensive to keep. The term had the meaning of a burdensome possession in which the owner could not afford to keep. The reason for the use of the term in the game is still debated, but it is rumored to have started with Ezra Cornell of Cornell University who became famous for using the phrase at parties.

As for “Secret Santa”, this title has an original owner named Larry Dean Stewart. He started out as a poor man, living in his car. He went into a diner to get a meal one night even though he knew that he couldn’t pay for it. When the bill came, he acted like he forgot his wallet. The waiter knew what was going on and gave him a $20 bill, “you must have dropped this”. He never forgot this day and a year later he was unemployed again and saw a carhop who wasn’t wearing a coat in the middle of winter because she could not afford one. He gave her a $20 bill, and skipped his meal.

Later, Stewart’s cousin in Kansas found him a job and went on to make millions. Year round, Larry would perform random acts of kindness and in a span of 26 years he gave away a total of  $1.6 million.

Gift exchanges like these are important to everyone’s holiday experience. The IB program at CHS is holding its 2^nd annual gift exchange among senior teachers and students.

“Gift exchanges are important in what the choices of gifts say about both the giver and what the giver thinks of the recipient.  They can show humor and taste , or lack of them, and are welcome because they are wrapped, causing suspense and anticipation,” English teacher Susan Creighton said. “If students are willing and excited about the gift exchange, I like to host them in class because they build camaraderie among the students, and they contribute to the mythos of each class as students develop the narrative of their experiences over the course of the year.”

Both teachers and students enjoy the exchange and anticipate the mystery behind finding out the giver and the gift.

“It [secret Santa] always gives you something to look forward to the last couple weeks of school. And it is always fun guessing who your secret Santa,” senior Sarah Mithani said. “Recently I got a really pretty journal that I thought was something really thoughtful because it’s something I can use either as like a personal diary or draw in it.”

Senior Sarah Hillier, who is overall in charge of this year’s IB exchange, says that it has an impact on the students in other ways than gifting.

“For us, I think it shows how unified we are as the first small class going through IB. There are only about 45 of us and which means that there are only about 44 other people that know what each of us have been through this past couple of years,” Hillier said. “To me, it says a lot that we know each other well enough and are all close enough to be able to simply draw out names of anyone in IB.”

No matter how crazy and confusing the different exchanges’ histories may be, every year people celebrate them with anticipation and fervor. Gift exchanges have proven to be an effective way to get friends together for the holidays and rejoice in what they bring.