Halloween has been one of my favorite holidays ever since I was little. Now, I’m more of a “Casper” than a “Poltergeist” kind of person, but I still appreciate the spooky season. Growing up, I made sure to watch the “Halloweentown” movies, “The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”, and “Hocus Pocus”. I mean, who doesn’t love getting free candy and running around with friends? As a freshman in college, I was excited for my first Halloween away from home, and my hall mates were too. As soon as October 1st rolled around, the festivities began. I may be a bit biased, but my hall definitely had the best decorations (lets go Reed Upper East!). From spiderwebs, to Halloween lights, caution tape, to a skeleton, our hall was decked out. This made me even more excited for the actual night! Then, everything started to crumble.
Sure, we went to haunted houses on campus and did a ghost tour, but the forecast showed rain for the actual night of Halloween. This caused the big Halloween event on campus, Halloween on the Ave, to abruptly move to Wednesday rather than on Halloween itself. This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but now people had conflicting events and deadlines for the event had to be hastened. While still fun, the event wasn’t quite what I thought it would be. I quickly realized that this event was more geared towards the kids in the surrounding community than for the college students themselves. I wished I had signed up to volunteer at a table rather than just awkwardly trying to walk around without getting in the way of the kids. I think that part of the problem was that I didn’t realize what this event really was, but hey, at least I know for next year so I can volunteer instead.
The pouring rain on the actual day of Halloween may have helped set an eerie mood, but it hampered actual Halloween activities like bonfires. Plus, I had homework to do. Afterall, it was a Thursday and those readings weren’t exactly going to do themselves! All in all, while a lot different from Halloween back at home, I learned a lot about Halloween at my school. The anticipation of the day is really the best part, and the candy giving started very early. Who would’ve thought that college students would happily trade free candy with each other via bowls outside their dorm rooms? It was like trick or treating, but a whole month long. Now that it’s over it’s time to start planning next year’s costume!