Halloween’s right around the corner. When you’re a kid, just thinking about that is enough to make you feel giddy. You count down the hours until you grab your little plastic pumpkin with a handle, zip up your sweet Batman costume and crusade for candy through a cobweb-coated suburbia. Or, you know, whatever variation of that you may have lived.
For college kids, though, it sometimes evokes a different emotion. Sure, there’s still excitement — maybe not for the convention trick-or-treating, but maybe for parties, or movie nights, or some other social gathering. But there’s a strange sort of nostalgic sadness that comes along with it — like as much as you dress up and go out with your friends, it’ll never quite feel like it did when you were a kid. After all, the thrill of being gifted a Snickers bar isn’t quite the same when you’re old enough to go to the 7/11 and buy one.
It’s not pathetic to feel like that. It’s not unwarranted, and it’s not even uncommon. When you come to college, a lot of things start to feel different. It’s part of straddling the line between being a kid and being in adult — as much as we loathe to admit it to our parents, we’re still wading in that gray area that lies between. So it still stings a little to know we left our hollow plastic pumpkins back in high school with our hall passes and our learner’s permits.
It’s cool if you want to compensate for that feeling by doing “adult Halloween.” A lot of people derive a great deal of enjoyment from themed parties at college residences, bars and whatever venues are out there. No judgment — live your life to the spookiest. Just try to be safe.
And hey, if you want to carve pumpkins and watch Hocus Pocus for the 14th time, you go right ahead. People don’t watch old movies because they forget what happened — they watch them to relive how they felt the first time. You’ve got a right to recreate your childhood. Pour Skittles down your throat until you’re sick to your stomach — that’ll take you right back.
However you celebrate this year, just remember to be responsible and have fun — and from your friends at The Triangle, have a happy Halloween!