I chose a random person living in the same apartment building as my English tutor. I notice a young girl who looks similar to my age. Sometimes, when I visit my tutor’s house for academic purposes, I meet her in the elevator or hallways, and she always holds some novels such as Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, which seems like she likes reading books, especially novels. Because I am also a big fan of these kinds of novels, It helped me to choose her to give a little gift.
Because I already noticed her interest, It made it much easier to choose a gift for an anonymous present for her. However, It takes some time to choose a certain book to give, the only information that I know about her, was she is a big fan of novels. Nevertheless, I chose the book, “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott It is one of my favourite books, and it connotes great lessons, particularly for teenagers. Moreover, It signifies the theme of this project that I thought, ‘It is more rewarding to give than receive.’ In particular, this lesson from the book fits the purpose of being a secret Santa which is why I chose the book, “Little Women.”
After I decided on the gift, I went to Indigo, the bookstore in Park Royal, to buy the book. Then, I put it in the paperback with a pretty red paper to cover up so she can’t check the gift directly. Finally, on the 29th of December, I visited my tutor’s house which was the perfect time for being a secret Santa. I already knew the girl’s house, which I had seen a few weeks ago when she came into her house, so I hung a paper bag with a book on the doorknob of her house, a surprise I had prepared subsequently I finished the tutoring in my tutor’s apartment. I knocked on the door and ran to the blind spot so that she couldn’t recognize that I had given the gift and I could observe her response.
A few seconds later, she checked the paperback. Initially, she took off the red paper coving the book to see what it was, which she was very puzzled that she didn’t know what was in the paper bag, but as soon as she took the red paper out and saw the book, she said “OH MY GOD,” and was excited, surprised, and happy. I perceived her enthusiasm through her excited voice which felt fulfilled.
On January 3rd, when I went to the tutor’s apartment for English tutoring, I checked the little message in front of her door, that is written “Thank you so much for a book! I really appreciate it, which I realized from a book, “Little Women” that giving is joyful than receiving. At the same time, i was inspired to give back, not necessarily through this Secret Santa project, but in other ways, to feel the joy of giving again through donations.