This past weekend was Ohio University’s HallOUween weekend, which is home to the famous Court Street block party and many house parties. Thousands of people come to visit Athens to experience the weekend, which results in the campus being trashed. As a sophomore who has already experienced HallOUween weekend before, I was dreading it this year. Last year the weekend annoyed me because of the residence hall lockdowns, overcrowding on campus, and the many people who come to Athens for the weekend just to trash it. The residence hall entrances are all locked except the main entrance, which forces students to go in through one door and show their wristband to the staff to get inside.
Last year this annoyed me because my room was at the end of the hallway and right by a back entrance, however, I was not allowed to enter through that door for the weekend. My roommate also decided to go home that weekend so I was left alone and was not really sure of what to do. I went up to Court Street and was instantly overwhelmed by the number of people and the smell of throw up. Mill Street was also not a fun time because of the number of cops and overcrowded streets. After my experience last year I was really not looking forward to having to deal with the visitors and hall lockdowns that created a mess on my campus.
Last year, Halloween was more of a burden for me than a fun time because of the crowds and having wristbands in the residence halls. However, this year I had a guest come down for the weekend, which allowed me to enjoy the weekend a lot more than last year. During the day on Saturday, we went with my friend to get a tattoo and then painted picture frames to put photos in from the weekend.
Later Saturday night we went to the block party on Court Street and then to a weird frat party (but what frat party isn’t weird?). This year one of the stages on Court Street was closed which completely changed the atmosphere and there were not as many people at the block party. After the block party, we went to Mill Street and decided to go to a frat party that was happening in a backyard. The frat party was different than most because of the small backyard space and since it had been raining all weekend the ground was covered in mud. The night ended with us playing Cards Against Humanity and then three of us crashing in a twin sized bed.
Also, my friend dressed up as Post (toast) Malone, which helped make the entire weekend one to remember.