Halloween is arguably one of the best holidays when you are a child. You get to attend school in your costume (which you have been coordinating with your friends for months), also, endless amounts of candy pile into your jack o lantern themed basket, until you eventually upgrade to the typical pillowcase. Then once all of the collecting is done you run to the nearest friend’s home and dump everything onto the floor to organize your treasures. If you do not like Snicker’s bars, then you can trade for Hershey’s. The candy swapping continues until everyone is satisfied with their teeth rotting goodies, which they likely will never finish. I know that I would always eat a ton of treats a few days after Halloween then never look at that pillow case until months down the road. Perhaps with the exception of Christmas, when you are young Halloween is a magical and adventurous holiday that you can celebrate with friends….However, when we grow up the festivities change ever so slightly.
As a college student, Halloween is no longer about trick or treating and pulling pranks on your neighbors. At this age, Halloween has become one giant party and dressing up in either the cleverest or most provocative outfit you can come up with. This holiday is the best way to kick off the changing season and an end to all of the incredibly stressful and difficult midterms thrown in our direction. My first Halloween at college was unlike any holiday I had experienced prior. People dressed up from their favorite television shows, movies, and books and even made up their own original characters. Some students chose not to dress up at all while others not only had a full costume, but remained in character throughout the entire day. The commitment level some of these students were giving went beyond likely their dedication to their school work. Such a spark of enthusiasm had erupted around me that I had not seen in my peers while in high school. That childlike excitement was still there, but it was being expressed in varying ways.
Once classes had finished for the day, hopefully kids were smart and actually went to class that day, then the actual festivities began. The costumes worn during the day were not usually the ones that students wore into the evening. Typically, the outfits worn became less thought provoking and more scandalous. Of course though there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. Whether someone dresses up in a complex and compelling costume or draws whiskers on their cheeks and calls themselves a cat, Halloween is about the spirit of making the characters we love and want to show come to life.
Halloween at SUNY Purchase is just about how anyone would expect it to be. Our students seem to be even more dedicated to having the greatest costume and throwing the most exciting parties because it is in our nature to be more artistic than everyone else. We have a duty to ourselves, since many of us are interested in the arts, to display our creative side. Halloween is the absolutely perfect holiday to do this. Between the costumes, decorations, parties and overall enthusiasm, Halloween is no less fun than it was when we were all children. Of course our celebratory manner has matured quite a bit, that giddiness that comes around towards the end of October is something that never changes when you age.
