Halloween, the holiday of costumes, candy and crazy memories, has arrived in all its spooktastic glory. From going trick or treating, binging on candy or watching spooky movies, many Biolans can relate to the fun-filled experiences surrounding the holiday.
Different ways of celebrating
Though students bear the weight of midterm season and adult responsibility, they still find time to reminisce about Halloweens past and, perhaps, even find a way to celebrate this season.
“I think it’s fun to be like a kid again and remember those days and just do silly things and just remind ourselves that we’re still childlike at heart. I think that’s important,” said Hanna Wilson, freshman cinema and media arts major.
Freshman nursing major Katy Treinen has always enjoyed celebrating Halloween whether by trick or treating or attending a harvest festival at her church. She thinks students still enjoy dressing up for Halloween since it remains one of the best aspects of the holiday, and she even suggested students have trick or treating around the dorms.
For the women’s soccer team, Halloween means team bonding. According to freshman biological sciences major Danielle Lord and freshman kinesiology major Rachel Doncel, the soccer team has a tradition of dressing up for practice on Halloween day in order to build team spirit.
Special memories
Some students almost missed the opportunity to celebrate Halloween for various reasons, but when they did celebrate, it made for all the best moments in their memories.
Sophomore intercultural studies major Emily Larson did not celebrate Halloween very often as she grew up overseas. Sometimes, they could not trick or treat for their own safety. Other times, they simply did not know the area. However, Larson remembers when her mother hid candy all around their house, turned off the lights and had the children find it with flashlights.
“That was our way of getting the candy and trick or treating without participating in all the gory or weird Halloween stuff, and our still being safe and staying in the house,” Larson said. “That’s like one of my only Halloween memories because I didn’t really get to celebrate that much.”
Freshman cinema and media arts major Emma Velasco comes from Minnesota where the weather reaches lower than a typical southern Californian can comprehend. One year, the weather felt too cold to go outside and she had chosen a costume with little warmth, yet determined to enjoy the holiday, she and her friends went trick or treating anyway. After nearly getting frostbite on the adventure, they returned home, huddled with hot chocolate and watched a movie.
“I was real close to getting frostbite or something because I was dead cold and couldn’t move because we stayed out so long because we wanted candy so bad,” Velasco said. “We were just like screw it. We’re going to face the cold.”
As the week comes around and Halloween arrives, students can find the child within them for a night of costumes and candy, or they can simply remember the fun of times past.
