Late one night during last year’s holiday season, then-freshman Kaitlyn Lee’s eyes zoomed in onto the large cardboard box that sat in front of her. Her hands trembling as she cut open the present, Lee could not contain her excitement as she unraveled what was inside.

To her surprise, however, Lee found herself struggling to comprehend the meaning behind the random contents inside the box: a small wooden rake, a sack of powdery white sand and a multitude of white, black and gray rocks that lay at the bottom of the package. After wondering why someone would give her a mini-beach set for Christmas, Lee suddenly realized she had just unpacked a poster-sized zen garden.

“I wasn’t really expecting something like this, especially for Christmas,” Lee said, recalling the event. “It’s a pretty cool gift though, considering [its originality] and how much it caught me off guard.”

Lee received the gift from sophomore Muthu Palaniappan, who thought a zen garden was the perfect way to get Lee to relax. Palaniappan’s idea for the gift originally stemmed from a similar garden she had received herself.

“Kaitlyn seemed really stressed especially with all of buildup of stress from finals and other tests, so I thought it would be a fun and funny way to get her to calm down,” Palaniappan said.

The garden now resides in Lee’s backyard, serving both relaxation and aesthetic purposes. Admired by Lee’s entire family, the garden turned out to be an extremely welcome addition to the household.

“Although when I first got the garden I didn’t really think I would use it much, I often find myself going to my backyard and raking it whenever I’m feeling really stressed or overwhelmed,” Lee said. “It turned out to be a really great gift!”