If you’re looking for a great fall-to-winter transition show, Good Witch is the way to go! The show starts with the lives of a witch, Cassie, and her daughter, Grace, who live in a small town called Middleton — but they aren’t the typical witch portrayal. Cassie and Grace use their gift of premonition to help others in their town for the better. The story of this show (which is a spinoff of the 2008 Good Witch movie series), starts when Sam, the new town doctor, moves in with his son (Nick) next door to Cassie and Grace. That’s the inciting moment when a spark is formed between the two families. 

As the show progresses, we see the lives of each of these main characters unfold, and eventually, college applications come around. There are two different types of people: people like Grace, who has everything in order, and people like Nick, who doesn’t quite have things figured out yet. For my fellow seniors, we know how stressful college applications are. Let’s take some life lessons from Good Witch to improve that process. 

• Rule #1: Always go easy on yourself. As long as you’ve tried your best, you can’t be hard on yourself. In Good Witch, Cassie always wishes to help people, but even when she’s unsuccessful, she never lets it get the best of her. She makes sure Grace does the same in times (such as when Grace and her boyfriend broke up). 
• Rule #2: Never dictate whether you did “good or bad” on anything (tests, events, etc). A black and white mindset will simply worsen your stress in the process of getting through your everyday life. In the show, Grace is a star student. Though being a star, she struggles in the college process, as she doesn’t exactly know what she truly wants to do; all she knows is that she wants to do the right thing. Though she is hard on herself (as teenagers usually are), she remembers that she’s doing her best, and that’s all that matters.
• Rule #3: Take time to thank yourself and others for helping you through these challenging times. Community support is so vital in our growth. The town in Good Witch is so emotionally connected as they bond with each other easily and illustrate friendly love for one another. When you let yourself accept and love others, you will find so much peace in your surroundings, body, and soul. 

For anyone who prefers to read a book rather than watch a show, Mrs. Rieger’s Book Club is here to help. Here are some of her suggestions:

• For those who enjoy the intersection of magic, folklore, and science: Once Upon a River By Diane Setterfield
• For the mystery-minded: And Then There Were None By Agatha Christie
• For the dystopian lover: Parable of the Sower By Octavia E. Butler
• For the nostalgic at heart: Little Women By Louisa May Alcott
• For those who need to be kinder to themselves: I Thought it Was Just Me By Brené Brown
• For those who want another reading challenge: Anna Karenina By Leo Tolstoy. 
• For anyone who wants any recommendations from a student, these are some books I’ve read recently: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed; Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marqué; My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh; and Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen.