Coming from a small town and high school that goes all out every year for Halloween, I came into college with high expectations for the wonderful holiday of Halloweekend. The small town I came from celebrated Halloween as if it were Christmas. One of my all-time favorite teachers in high school was known for her outstandingly creative costumes. She would drop hints of what her costume would be, but the hints could never do her costumes justice. I knew coming into college that the parties would only get better and the costumes would grow in creativity. However, I didn’t realize just how different Halloweekend would be.

1. Parties

In high school there were a few parties through the weekend, but they weren’t crazy and outrageous. They were typically smaller parties for your closest friends with one giant party at some point over the weekend. In college, there were more parties than you can count on one hand each night, starting the 28th, and continuing until the 31st.

2. Building the Costume

In high school some parents took you shopping to buy new costumes every year, or maybe you put together a costume from your closet. You always had a trendy new costume that was easily recognizable by all your friends. In college you start planning what creative idea/group you and your roommate(s) are going to dress up as the second you move in. Typically your costume was recognized for the first five minutes of the party, but then costumes were forgotten once the party started.

3. Costumes

In high school the costumes were creative. They could also be worn to school and around our neighborhoods, and you could typically show off your costume to your whole family. You also only needed one costume. In college, you took a picture in the most innocent looking costume to show your family later, and then you put on your real costumes, and the less they showed, the better. Three nights, three costumes; or even four costumes if you wanted to dress up on Halloween day around campus.

4. Trick or Treating

In high school we might nonchalantly agree to go trick-or-treating with our younger siblings and then awkwardly stand behind the younger kids while they begged for candy, pretending you didn’t want any candy when offered. But in college no one turns down free food of any kind and you most likely spent the entire night shamelessly knocking on doors begging for food that didn’t come from your schools café.

5. Pumpkin Carving

In high school you may have carved a pumpkin a few times with your friends and family that sat on your front porch for a few days until it rotted. In college you start carving pumpkins the day they’re put in stores, and typically continue buying and carving pumpkins until November 1st.

All in all, Halloweekend was better than any Halloween in high school. Though I did miss out on amazing costumes walking through the halls of my school, the entire weekend spent with my closest friends enjoying our time together made it so much better.