Although it is finally October, corporate stores such as Walgreens and CVS have been preparing for Halloween since mid-September; and so have I. Fall is my favorite season of the year, because of the perfect holiday that is Halloween. Scary movies, costumes, and candy! I could never miss out on celebrating this holiday.

Unfortunately, each year as my friends and I get older it seems harder and harder to continue the Halloween tradition of either dressing up and trick-or-treating; or buying our own candy, and watching a horror movie marathon. I consider myself a kid-minded adult because I will always dress up and celebrating Halloween. Even though I disagree with the idea of going trick-or-treating and dressing up for Halloween as being "childish", some of my now so-called “maturing” friends are leaning towards the idea of “celebrating” Halloween by either going to a club or a bar. It was bad enough being taunted for being a college student who still enjoys decorating and celebrating Halloween, by getting all the candy she can get from trick-or-treating, but now I'll be turning 21 in a few weeks -- the comments are getting worse and worse. It appears to be expected for college students to only celebrate Halloween by attending overly crowded events that offer cheap alcohol.

Even taking joy in watching Halloween themed movies such as "Hocus Pocus" or Disney's "Halloween Town" is viewed as being juvenile. Not only have I heard the question, “Aren’t you a little too old to still be celebrating Halloween?” from friends, but I’m also hearing this annoying rhetorical question from strangers! One evening, while riding the Q17, I was having a conversation on the phone with my dad. I was telling him how I looked forward to decorating my room for Halloween as soon as the month of October comes. Apparently, I must have been a little too excited because a woman that was sitting next to me made a comment about my conversation after it ended. She stated, "You're still excited about Halloween at your age, huh?" The only thing I could think of as a response was to just smile and nod. Her comment meant no harm, but it did make me think if I am getting too old to still enjoy this holiday.

What would people think of me if they saw me on the night of Halloween dressed up as a character from "The Legend of Zelda" going door to door asking for candy? Then I realized, why should I care?