Halloween used to mean trick-or-treatin’, but when you get to college, Halloween means something completely different. Let me elaborate. Most of us are pursuing post-secondary, or have jobs so we typically get home super late like around 5 p.m. I got home around 6 the 31st of October. Then I did some cleaning and made myself a late lunch. Drained from the stresses affiliated with the day, I decided to take a “thirty minute” nap. I got up around 9 p.m, because the doorbell kept ringing. I overheard my mom offering this sketchy kid on my street some nut-free chocolate, because he gets this horrible allergic reaction to chocolate that has nuts in it. Then I tried to doze off again, but the doorbell kept ringing. After an hour of this tedious cycle, I dragged myself out of bed, and walked shamefully to get some candy. But my mom glared at me and said it was for the trick-or-treaters. I managed to steal a couple of fun-sized chocolate bars and Snapchat saw it all. My mom saw too, however, unlike my Snapchat friends, she was not amused.
Around 11 p.m., I plopped myself down to study. I mustered up the strength to open Blackboard and was met with 17 notifications. “Grade posted,” “lecture 15 uploaded,” “podcasts chapter 14 uploaded”…the list went on. Now I was horrified. So far my Halloween comprised only of tricks and two fun-sized chocolate bars (but c’mon those aren’t “treats”). From 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., I spent my time learning nucleophilic reaction mechanisms and learning the difference between an MRI and an fMRI. Then from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. I took a short nap, and then I was back at school for an 8 a.m. lab.
That was my Halloween, however I’m sure I’m not alone. This was probably Hallow’s Eve for several students and people my age. Either this or getting drunk. This might have been due to Halloween being on a Tuesday. Or maybe with growing up it’s implied that you’re too old for Halloween, and now you’re just holding the candy bowl, checking Blackboard, napping for extensive periods of time, or getting wasted. Yeah, adulting sucks. No more tricks, I want treats.