A few more days and Halloween will be here. Even though this holiday is typically more for kids than adults, it can still be a lot of fun. There is no rule that says once you’re out of elementary school (or junior high at the latest) that you have to put away your costumes, retire your trick or treat bag and stop celebrating Halloween.
When I was little girl, Halloween was always one of my favorite holidays. What kid wouldn’t love an excuse to wear a completely ridiculous outfit, stay up late and get a ton of candy?
Even though most of us have supposedly reached adulthood, we should still feel free to go out there and have a good time on Halloween. If you were excited about Halloween as a kid, there is no reason why you should lose that holiday excitement just because you age has reached the double digits. Go out there, have fun and show that you can act much younger than you actually are.
The key to any successful Halloween outing always starts with the costume. When we were younger, I’m sure a lot of us exercised questionable, if not downright poor, judgment and ended up with embarrassing costumes. I know I did. The worst choices I made occurred one year when I went out as a black bat and another year, obsessed with ‘The Addams Family’ I went as ‘Cousin It’. My mom did a fine job making the costumes, but the pictures left over from those years are still a bit embarrassing. And aren’t we lucky that our parents always seem to remember the cameras and never lose the pictures?
Even as college students it can be fun to dress up. Why not let loose and be a little silly about it? I really envy the students who wear costumes for Halloween. It is great to see that some people still have that inner child who makes appearances from time to time. It is too bad that the school couldn’t have one big dress up day like they used to do in school when we were younger. I’d love to see my teachers give lectures dressed as vampires, witches and M&M’s.
As soon as your costume is set, the next step is to get ready for trick or treating. Little kids have it easy. They’re cute and no one will say no to them if they knock on the front door for some yummy treats. But, as you get older, you’re not very likely to get much for your goody bag. For some reason, kids just have all the charm when it comes to getting the sweets from adults. Once in a while, the person who answers the door might be amused enough at your costume that they give you candy, but those times are far and few between.
Since going trick or treating isn√ØøΩt a realistic option for college students our age, there are other fun things to do that are better suited to our age group.
My personal favorite is the scary movie marathon. The only problem with this is that I’m a big baby. I’ll admit it. I don’t deal well with scary movies. Therefore, having my teddy bear Riley nearby is a must. I’m not really sure what makes scary movies more fun on Halloween than on any other day, but that is definitely the case. There is just nothing like having a group of friends together to scream at the most frightening parts and then giggle over the fact that the movie just made you scream.
I have also heard that the annual Halloween parade in the Village is a unique and highly interesting experience. Unfortunately, I have yet to make it to one. It just never seems to work out right. But, it sounds worthwhile. It is always fun to see adults dressed up in outfits that are odd, at least more so than what is typical for the Village.
Probably the only thing I don’t like is when people take the ‘trick’ part a little too far. I’m all for pranks. I’m a huge fan of them. I highly enjoy pulling them on my friends. But, there are always people who just don’t know when to call it quits. Last year people were kind enough to put what we believe was shaving cream all over the door and handle of my suite. Not only was it obnoxious, but it wasn’t very creative. If you’re going to pull a prank, you should at least have the decency to do something that is different. For a prank to be really successful, the person it was pulled on should be laughing so hard that they don’t even care about what you did to them.
Even if you are too busy to actually do much for Halloween, it’s still fun just watching how excited kids get about the big day. We all know they’re just in it for the candy, but they’re still cute. I always get a kick out of seeing all of the little kids rushing from house to house trying to get more candy then they could probably eat in an entire lifetime. Bellyaches are a sign of a job well done when it comes to Halloween.
Regardless of your age, enjoy Halloween. There’s nothing like being completely childish and treating the holiday like you did when you were little. We might has well enjoy it while we can still– before we know it we won’t be able to use the excuse that, as college students, we’re supposed to do odd things every once in a while.
Jessica Lyons is a senior majoring in journalism who misses the fun times she had on Halloween as a kid. Send comments to [email protected] .
