Halloween fun should be ageless

Once we get to a certain age, we hear this saying over and over from adults: “You are too old to do that! It is only for kids!” We hear it in reference to playing on a playground or having toys or stuffed animals or even trick-or-treating on Halloween. When we get older though, do we really have to give up the carefree fun that we had when we were little? Is it necessary to subject ourselves to the “all work and no play” grind that so many adults subscribe to?

Absolutely not. In fact, I still feel like a kid inside. College is a major life transition that takes us away from the oversight of parents and gives us so much more autonomy. We can go wherever we want when we want, save and spend our money how we want and go and see anything we want without having to ask for permission. 

Because of that, combined with a little something called a pandemic, people now feel as if time has stopped, or  they have skipped over a critical period of growing up. We feel younger than we are, and we really have something interesting—a strange mixture of emerging adulthood combined with the feeling of stopped time that the pandemic brought on.

This is the freedom our kid-selves have always dreamed of, but, for most of us, without the heavier responsibilities of holding down a job or supporting a family. This is the time that we have to enjoy the freedom of college along with the giggly fun that comes from still feeling like a kid. 

If you never had the opportunity to agonize over your costume or to dress up with friends and experience all the seasonal Halloween horror and fun, now is the time to do it. Eat all that candy, watch those scary movies, laugh and have fun with your friends and neighbors just like you did when you were little. With all the stress of exams, applications and college drama, having a designated night to have a little fun can be liberating. 

So who can tell us “No! You are an adult now! Act like one”? Student Engagement? Our professors? Of course not. In fact, they actively encourage and participate in this whimsical fun that we have on campus. In fact, Student Engagement promotes a trick-or-treat around campus event. Ask around and you’ll hear professor lore of all the bizarre, funny things they’ve done both inside and outside of the classroom. I once replaced myself with a Pokemon substitute doll in class to go to the bathroom and I came back to a worksheet tucked under it with a pencil placed gently in its hand. 

Read the weekly Bark and you’ll see all the Trivia nights, dog petting events, scavenger hunts and trick-or-treating that Lewis & Clark has to offer us. Tell me if they’re doing this just for the children. 

So dress up and go to a ball, dress up as a weird yellow creature for Gaming Society, scavenger hunt with your friends, do karaoke, win prizes and go to events on campus. Check out the “Ghouls and Gowns” themed fall ball and don’t be afraid to wear your spookiest costume. Live your life as you want to and not as that boring old adult who tells you that Halloween is only for kids.