At first, junior Lucia Gonzalez was hesitant to celebrate her 15th birthday with a quinceañera.

“I didn’t really have a lot of Hispanic friends … I just thought it was a little weird and too cultural,” she said. “I didn’t want to be trying to be super Mexican, just because I’m half Mexican.”

Despite these concerns, she decided to go through with the tradition, which celebrates becoming a woman in many Latin American cultures. While the quinceañera varies across countries, the birthday girl typically wears an elaborate ball gown and invites close friends to be a part of her court. The ceremony often includes dances with relatives, godparents, damas (girls on the court) and chambelanes (boys on the court).

Gonzalez explained the familial importance of her quince: “It’s something that every girl in my family has done … I couldn’t have my grandparents there, so I feel like it was, in a way, like a tribute to them [and] accepting my Hispanic side,” she said.

Junior Atari Ernst also experienced family connections during his confirmation, which took place when he was in eighth grade.

“[Confirmation is when] you’re kind of getting admitted into the Catholic Church … it’s kind of like progressing your faith and becoming more mature,” he said.
Catholic rites of passage such as first communion and confirmation were incorporated into his religion class at Holy Spirit Academy. The process also involved finding external support from a sponsor who students talked to about their faith. Ernst chose his grandpa. He described his confirmation as a “fun bonding experience,” especially because of the connections he made while interviewing his grandpa.

Bar and bat mitzvahs are another well-known example of coming-of-age celebrations, marking the beginning of Jewish adulthood. Senior Daniel Gurvich had a unique experience with this tradition, as it was held in Israel.

“I’m a citizen, so [Israel is] kind of like home,” Gurvich said.

The pandemic delayed his bar mitzvah, so he had the celebration around his 15th birthday instead of the traditional 13. Since part of the ceremony involves memorizing a passage specific to the date from the Torah, one of the sacred Jewish texts, changing to a different calendar day would involve learning a new portion.

His takeaway from the experience has evolved over time: “Not necessarily right away, but like, a couple days later, I kind of felt something, like changed… maybe [because of] the gravity of the moment,” he said.

Despite the differences in these tradtion Gonzalez shared the sentiment, apprecitating the ways in which he quinceanera brought her closer to her family and culture