Amidst the quiet anticipation of New Year’s Eve, the hands of your clock strike loudly against the still air, declaring every minute that brings you closer to the new year. If these very minutes determine just how fortunate your year will be, what chances are you taking?

   As 2022 comes to a close, PPCHS welcomes 2023 with open arms and superstitions that leave the near future in good hands. While some need the extra luck more than others, the multitude of Charter’s unique traditions provides enough good fortune to go around! When asked what one of their New Years superstitions is, students had plenty to share:

“Every New Year, my grandma makes us all take off our shoes and hug a tree in my backyard… so you can be grounded with the universe. Once you wrap your hands around the tree she makes you rest your forehead on the tree and close your eyes and set good intentions for the new year… We do it every single year once it turns 12 [AM].” –Andrea Moreno (Senior)

“[A superstition we do is] running with a suitcase… [It’s supposed to represent] traveling a lot in the new year!” –Kailee Maldonado (Senior)

“We burn sage through the house… it takes away any negative vibes in the new year.” –Brianna Correa (Senior)

“Whenever a new year rolls around, I try to make a resolution for myself and if I feel like I haven’t held myself to it by the end of the year, I always think I’ll have some bad luck.“ -Alan Schwartz (Junior)

“My family, we eat twelve grapes! My mom tells me to do it… and I think it’s for good luck. I know some people wear, like, red underwear to make their year [full of] love, but if you wear green… you get money that year.” –Isabella Conrado (Freshman)

“[I always] countdown until the clock strikes midnight… I feel like if you don’t count down, it’s just not normal and bad luck.” –Zackary Harris (Senior)

“My mom follows the Chinese New Year thing… She lays out a bowl of coins or change for wealth, and then lays out other bowls of the same size and color, red, of sugar and rice, and they represent good things to come into the new year…” –Zoe Porcia (Sophomore)

“Every New Year, every minute or second we count we eat a grape… and you’re supposed to make a wish [for] every grape.” –Jaelyn Perez (Sophomore)

“My family likes to wear yellow on New Years because it’s something that resembles good luck!” –Mario Idiarte (Junior)

“There was this one thing my mom and I did years ago…where every New Year’s Eve, you have to make a new bed to kind of represent a clean slate into the [new] year.” –Brianna Lamy (Sophomore)

   Whatever superstition you choose to follow, the new year lies in your hands. Take your chances, and have a happy new year, Jags!