Greetings beautiful people! In my last post, I touched on some serious topics (I do that a lot) that tend to come up during the Fall season and left out possibly the best part of Fall time; Halloween. Halloween is quickly approaching and it is marking off the first holiday wave of the school year. For me, Halloween and entering the holiday season sometimes drives my motivation and gives me something, anything, to look forward to. I am sure you all have been swamped with work recently and maybe some of you also have been counting down the days for some sort of a break. Halloween is conveniently during Midterm season and I certainly am feeling the weight of the upcoming exams and projects. To counteract that stress, we as students luckily have one of the best holidays to fall back on. This spooky holiday is not everyone’s cup of tea but I think a lot of college students learn to appreciate it in one way or another and at the least, use it as an excuse to dedicate an entire week of festivities. Even if you aren’t feeling stressed during this time, that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t take part in some activity that relieves stress. That may be Halloween or may be something else, regardless, Halloween is the one time of year when you can really go all out while dressed up in a costume and not have to worry about people giving you weird looks on the street.
Halloween as we know today is one of our oldest holidays. Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, actually originated as Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival, to celebrate the end of summer and welcome the harvest. People during this time felt especially close to deceased relatives and spirits. The Celtic believed that on this date, the veil separating the realms of the living and the dead thins. It was a time of rituals and prophecies, where people bonded with otherworldly beings and celebrated life and death. People wore disguises, held bonfires, and lit candles along roads to celebrate. After a season of labor, Halloween was a time to throw off social restraints and revel as they ventured out when it was believed that spirits walked the land. Over the centuries, the holiday evolved drastically from its Druidic origins in Ireland, taking on Christian influences, and European and American consumerism. Today costumes and disguises have figured into Halloween, children and their parents roam the streets to “trick-or-treat,” and teens today are more likely to have parties or attend horror movies, regarding themselves as too old to participate. Halloween is one of the most popular holidays in America with roughly 76% of Americans are reported to celebrate this Fall. Kids in America are fostered on the Halloween spirit from a young age, and this continues into adulthood. Halloween is known for being a night where you can be anything you want. You dress up, be weird with friends, and eat extensive amounts of candy, but it’s all justified because it is Halloween.
While Christmas and Thanksgiving usually steal the spotlight, Halloween is undoubtedly my favorite holiday hands down. When I was a child it was a magical time to pretend that I was anyone I wanted to be and walk around the neighborhood to trick-or-treat until my feet got sore and people had no more candy to give out. In high school I still loved Halloween but as it transformed into partying on school nights, I no longer felt the need to participate. Now as a college student, Halloween is no longer a day of holiday spirit, but a week-long commitment to going out with friends. Halloween in college is considered an entertaining distraction from the problems of young adult life. As students, we share many similar struggles – managing finances, balancing academics and social life, and preparing for our future after we graduate. Fall is such an important transition season and as we get lost in the demands of life at school, Halloween remains the one substantial event that reminds us that it’s okay to take a step back, enjoy life, and enjoy the season. The nearing prospect of this holiday gives all of us something to distract ourselves with, something to work toward besides the weeks of intensive studying, papers, and glorious midterms. A careless weekend of excitement and mysticism I think is what we all need. Not to mention Halloween also works as an incentive to be more social. As most of you I assume are also first years, it is a great time to get out and participate in fall festivities. I wish you all a happy Halloween and if you aren’t celebrating, I hope you do something you enjoy!
Although I wouldn’t say that Halloween is my favorite Holiday, it’s definitely up there for me. As a kid I loved Halloween, (but like what kid doesn’t; you get to dress up with your friends and get free candy that’ll last like two weeks if you’re frugal). I think we’re similar in regards to high-school halloween; I’d always dress up and hang out with my friends on Halloween, but I was never a huge party-goer. I also really enjoy Halloween in college, because by far my favorite part is making budget costumes, and being in college takes that challenge to the extreme because of a definite lack of resources. I know it’s post halloween now, but college halloween to me has so far been much more enjoyable than the party-filled high school celebration.