Indulge in playing dress-up with friends
Life is a series of milestones that define us as being “too old” for the treats we loved as a child. Consider Halloween: as we get older, teachers start assigning projects and tests the day after, saying “you’re too old to go trick or treating anyway.” The older we get, the less we seem to be allowed to enjoy holidays.
But, are we ever really too old to partake in these celebrations? We don’t stop celebrating Christmas or New Year’s as we grow up, so why is Halloween any different? That being said, some holidays require adults to create the magic for children. Adults need to hide gifts on Christmas and pretend Santa came in the next morning, and during Halloween, adults need to hand out the candy and help children dress up.
Most university students don’t have children though, and we’re at a time in our lives when we classify as something between a child and adult. Sure, legally we’re adults. We can vote and we have to pay taxes, but we’re still getting our bearings.
Dressing up for Halloween is a tradition that fosters creativity and excitement. We regularly indulge in books and movies for escapism — why can’t we do the same with dressing up once a year? Students have a lot on their plates. Between school, jobs, and extracurriculars, we deserve some time to focus on our interests in a creative way that’s not linked to preparing for our futures.
Halloween isn’t just about physically dressing up — it’s about planning, making, and enjoying something that isn’t considered productive. So many students are surrounded by hustle culture and are being told that we need to be productive all the time. So, dressing up can be a form of self-care, a moment away from toxic productivity culture. Halloween is a little pocket of time that lets us step away from our assignments and into fun costumes.
Not to mention, it’s just a lot of fun!
As we grow up we internalize the judgements of the people around us, particularly authority figures for a brief window of time we, as university students, live in a place that is fairly independent of interference from that type of judgement. Why not take the opportunity to indulge in playing dress-up with friends and taking a healthy dose of escapism?
Hopefully, as we begin to step into the role of authority figures in various capacities for the next generation of children, we can bring these experiences with us and encourage the continuation of imagination, storytelling, and creativity well into adulthood.
