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Beyond the Bow: The Art of Gift Giving

Christina Feng ’28 Campus Correspondent
With the holidays drawing near, the hunt for presents has begun. For many, gift-giving is a big part of winter holidays. Katie Spenner ’25 said, “My favorite part of the holidays is participating in gift exchanges.”
With the holidays drawing near, the hunt for presents has begun. For many, gift-giving is a big part of winter holidays. Katie Spenner ’25 said, “My favorite part of the holidays is participating in gift exchanges.” 

When trying to find a good gift, some students turn to regifting or gifting them something they own. Kaelin Vasseur ’25, believes that re-gifting “can still be thoughtful if you know that [the receiver would] like it.” Alan Xu ’26 also thinks that “regifting is fine in most cases where you already have something or don’t need the thing that you were gifted anymore.” Xu additionally mentioned how regifting “reduces a lot of waste.” Isha Seth ’28, however, opposes this practice and believes that “gifts should be new, out of respect to the person you’re giving them to.” 

Students are also divided on how to best present gifts. Jack Beauclair ’27 prefers gift bags over wrapping paper because “[bags] are reusable.” Annie Zhang ’27 adds that “gift bags use less material.” Lora Kenyon ’28, however, prefers wrapped presents because “it hints at what's inside and it takes some effort to wrap something.” Xu agrees, and said that wrapped presents show “a higher level of care.” 
Students are split on whether or not gift cards are an acceptable present. Xu says “if it is someone you know well, I don’t think it is an acceptable gift, as it could mean you don’t understand this person as well.” Beauclair disagrees and believes that gift cards are acceptable “especially if people get older and want more freedom for purchasing gifts. It feels more personal to give gift cards to a service or store you know they like.” Seth is also in favor of gift cards because “you can give someone a gift card depending on what their interests are and what they like.”

While there may be disagreements over the specifics of presents, most students agree that gift-giving is a good practice to participate in. Xu believes that “giving someone a gift is the most direct and most material way to show how much you care about them in action.” Kenyon says that receiving a gift “makes you feel appreciated.”

Mateus Witczak ’26 said: “Gifts show someone that you put effort into getting something the other person would like.” Vassar notes that “someone spent their time and money to get you [a gift].” Kenyon sums up: “Any gift is a good gift.”
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(203) 397-1001