As the anticipated eve of All Saint's Day steadily approaches, it can be easy for college students to feel as though they are missing out on all the fun. Bogged down by homework, extracurriculars, and adult responsibilities, the holiday season can seem to slip from right beneath their feet. Gone are the days of making pumpkin themed crafts in Language Arts class. No longer can you feel the excitement of seeing the Halloween store pop-up for the first time and knowing you would soon be the owner of a wicked sweet costume. Halloween is not the same for the college student...but all hope is not lost.
As a university student, you may actually be commemorating the spooky holiday all throughout the year and not even realize it! Here are 13 ways that college students actually celebrate Halloween every day:
1. Watching Scary Movies
Remember the frightening but exciting feeling of anticipating the impending scare of a Halloween movie? Somehow somewhere someone was lurking offscreen ready to pop out. You know it's coming, but still somehow get blindsided by the fright? Well, you can still experience this as a college student. Just replace the movie screen with your actual life and cast your post-university future as the lurking ghost. Scared yet? You will be.
2. Running from Monsters
As a child, Halloween is the time to be on high alert for monsters lurking in every corner. As a young adult, you can recreate that feeling of Monster Magic. Just turn on the TV, check the internet or even scroll through social media during these final 2016 election days...there are plenty of creepy ghouls to go around. Ahhhh! Real Monsters!!....oh wait that was just the RNC.
3. Searching for a Costume
Unlike when you were a youngster...a good costume now a' days is more than just a Mummy or Frankenstein's Monster. You have to be creative, relevant, interesting, entertaining and simple. Or in other words...a Meme. Little did you know that as you dutifully scroll down your Twitter feed you were actually re-creating the costume search you loved as a child. Find the perfect meme for you and there you go. Meet: The Undecided Voter.
4. Trick or Treating
Walking from door to door, knocking and begging for something to eat. As a kid, you loved doing this on Halloween, as a college student...it's called Friday Night.
5. Going to Haunted Houses
Don't have time to go to a haunted house like you used to? No worries, you can make your own! Start by walking on the street, see all the people shuffling along moaning with their eyes glued to a screen? They're zombies! Walk into the Financial Aid office and you just might find a witch in the window denying your refund check! Go back to your dorm and find your roommate wrapped head to toe in blankets? A Mummy! See...there's Halloween Magic everywhere you care to look.
6. Halloween Themed Arts and Crafts
As a kid, you spent hours making decorations and hanging them throughout the classroom. Now you can do the same thing...in your 2 and a half hour seminar class. It's the exact same thing except that there is no excitement, glue, crayons, glitter or creativity. You can make a pretty sweet looking pumpkin with an orange highlighter and pen shading though...yaaaaay.
7. Wearing a Costume
Since at this point in the semester you pretty much only wear a hoodie and sweatpants anyway...you can make it a costume. Here are a few starter ideas of what you can be on Halloween:
1) Rocky
2) A boxer
3)That's it.
8. Halloween Sugar High
Oooooh baby that November 1st candy bounty used to be SWEET (get it lolz). But never fear, you can still reach that degree of a sugar high as a college kid. Mix your usual morning coffee with two extra shots of espresso, extra carmel and 3 Domino packets and you've got yourself a winner.
9. Going out on a school night
Remember when Halloween fell on a school night and you knew for that one day during the year you would be out all night raging with your friends on a THURSDAY? Me too. And now you still can. Just do what we all have to do in this intimidatingly competitive job market and join 45 million clubs and student orgs on campus. You'll have back to back to back meetings and be out ALL night, and be out just like the old days.
10. Pranks
Good prank idea:
Step #1: Tell your roommate that you are going to clean the bathroom
Step #2: Don't clean the bathroom
Step #3: Watch your roommate explode
Step #4: Explain that it was a Halloween prank
Step #5: File for new housing
...You're welcome!
11. Getting a Good Fright
Want to be scared? Log into the bank app and check your account- terrifying.
12. Enjoying the Fall Air
That fresh and chilly fall breeze used to signify the turn of the season, and the beginning of Halloween time. Now you can still enjoy that lovely zephyr, as you walk-jog to your 8:30 class with fresh wet hair and a can-do attitude! Yay for higher education.
13. Carving Pumpkins
There was some kind of therapeutic release that you felt as a child when you plunged your largest kitchen knife into the skull of a pumpkin and pulled out the guts. It was goopy, it was messy and it was fun. You can enjoy the same kind of release in college. All you need is a pillow and your fists. Repeatedly punch the sack of goose feathers until you've run out of energy as you mourn the loss of your Halloween spirit and realizes that sometimes, the scariest fright is growing up.
Happy Halloween!!
