# File lib/big_record/connection_adapters/column.rb, line 366
        def string_to_date(string)
          # Important: the stored value could be an instance of Time.  If we don't
          #   cast to Date, the cast will fail because column type != value type
          return new_date(string.year, string.month, string.day) if (string.is_a?Time)
          return string unless string.is_a?(String)
          return nil if string.empty?

          fast_string_to_date(string) || fallback_string_to_date(string)
        end