by Jocelyn He (Class of 2020)

On Feb 15th, students and teachers from the Instilling Goodness Developing Virtue Girls School gathered in the Chan Hall for the Chinese New Year celebration. The participants were separated into eleven groups by drawing lucky numbers out of a bowl. Each group shared new year snacks, including pineapple cake, red date tea, spring rolls, and tangerines. Meanwhile, the sophomore class introduced the various  kinds of new year food to the school.

After they had the New Year snacks, the students went to the back of the high school and enjoyed the game “Capture the Dumpling”, a rendition of the popular game “Capture the Flag”.

On the next day, the students spent the morning making dumplings in the Big Dining Hall. The students headed over to the kitchen early that morning to make dumplings for everyone for lunch. As the girls started preparing, the whole dining hall was buzzing with an air of excitement. Even as the art of dumpling making was tough for some of the girls who had never made dumplings before, everyone was laughing at the end and had a good time.

Before lunch started, the whole school expressed their gratitude to  Venerable Master Hua and to all the Dharma Masters by reciting the Heart Sutra in front of the Patriarch Hall. Afterward, everyone made their way to the Tower of Blessings in order to bring homemade moon cakes and New Year music to the elderly nuns.

This Lunar New Year has provided the students with an opportunity to celebrate the good fortune in the year to come.