[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.6.6″ _module_preset=”default”]<\/p>\n

Candlelight has been a prized yearly tradition at Harley where the entire community comes
together to celebrate the holidays and recognize a wide variety of religions and traditions. From
candle lighting to prayer reciting, the theater is typically filled to capacity with joy, appreciation,
and holiday cheer. The ceremony culminates with the extinguishing of all flames and the room is
pitch black and filled with silence. It is so quiet that one can hear the breath of those around
them and the drop of a pin. This year, however, this prized tradition was different. Each piece of
the ceremony was videotaped separately and put together into one video to be shared with the
entire community the day before winter break. Due to these drastic changes, we wanted to get
students\u2019 thoughts on Candlelight and not being able to have a traditional ceremony this year.<\/p>\n

What did you value about Candlelight from years past?<\/em>
Daniel W., Zene K., and Zoe F. all value that Candlelight was an opportunity for the entire
community to come together to celebrate different holidays and traditions, even though everyone
may not celebrate the same ones. Lydia G. says, \u201cI loved how open it was and how it made
everyone feel included.\u201d Diya T. offers a different perspective as someone who often
participated in reciting and lighting a candle for her tradition. She explains, \u201cI was not only able
to connect to my culture, but also share it with an audience of people.\u201d Eli describes Candlelight
not only as an opportunity to celebrate a wide variety of traditions, but to see familiar faces like
alumni.<\/p>\n

How will Candlelight be different for you this year?<\/em>
Eli says, \u201cI think that not being able to see everyone in one room might take away from the
togetherness that was present in the past. Just being in the theater, there is a certain energy
that might not be there if we are all online. However, I still think that if anyone were to pull off a
virtual candlelight, it would be Harley.\u201d Zene and Zoe point out that because it\u2019s online, there
won\u2019t be any dressing up and it can be watched from the comfort of their homes. Daniel
describes this year as an opportunity for him to watch it from home with his parents for the first
time ever.<\/p>\n

Because Candlelight is typically a valued winter break\/new year\u2019s send-off, do you think that this<\/em>
year\u2019s changes will impact how you feel about going into winter break\/the new year?<\/em>
Diya and Daniel agree that Candlelight will feel a bit anticlimactic and sad this year, but are
hoping that the online version brings a piece of normalcy. Lydia states, \u201cI will miss seeing
everyone one more time before break and it will not be the same not having it this year.\u201d Zoe,
Zene, and Eli all believe that this year\u2019s Candlelight won\u2019t impact how they feel about going into
winter break\/the new year and that it will have the same effect as it does every year.<\/p>\n

[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Candlelight has been a prized yearly tradition at Harley where the entire community comestogether to celebrate the holidays and recognize a wide variety of religions and traditions. Fromcandle lighting to prayer reciting, the theater is typically filled to capacity with joy, appreciation,and holiday cheer. The ceremony culminates with the extinguishing of all flames and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.harley.org\/thecomet20-21\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}