It is 3 p.m. and I look up from my reading desk at Tisch Library. I see someone covered fully in a white sheet, perhaps attempting to look like a ghost in the middle of broad daylight. At 4:30 p.m., I am walking down the steps of Tisch and see a professor with a green hat and purple shoes - definitely going for the witch look.
Later, at 6:05 p.m., I see the Powerpuff Girls emerging from Dewick. I chuckle to myself, thinking that any moment now, The Professor will show up, and just like that, he follows the girls out the door. By 7:45 p.m., when I enter my residence hall, it seems like the entire cast of "The Walking Dead" (2010-present) is prowling the hallways, looking for human flesh. It is now 8:30 p.m., and as I leave my dorm, I see a campus covered with various creatures walking around in the night. I'm sure I even hear a scream. I take my poorly constructed bow and arrow and head out to the arena of "The Hunger Games" (2012).
The holiday I have been looking forward to the most truly lived up my expectations. Unfortunately, Halloween crept up so quickly that I did not even have time to prepare for it. A weekend that seemed so far away suddenly arrived and sent me scrambling for any outfit whatsoever. I did feel incredibly like KatnissEverdeen, however, when I had to rely on my undeniably quick wit and creativity to construct a bow and arrow out of a hanger and a belt. I was a bit disappointed, to be honest, because I had assumed that I would spend at least a week contemplating my costume and make-up in order to transform into character completely. Instead, I made use of my conveniently long hair and tied it into a Katniss-like braid, adding a black jacket, cargo pants and black boots to my ensemble - not too bad in itself.
As the night progressed, I saw more and more people dressed up as various characters. A creature from "Avatar" (2009) with orange hair was waiting after me in line to take a picture with our very own President Monaco, who was dressed as a zombie version of Dipsy from the infamous Teletubbies (1997-2001). A dog passing a group of gothic-dressed students with his owner seemed scared and began to bark in their direction. The movies were right - people do go all out during Halloween. As a scantily clad Miley Cyrus walked by me, I heard the "Mean Girls"(2004) voiceover in my head, saying, "In Girl World, Halloween is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it."
The night got even better when I went trick-or-treating around my residence hall and received a bunch of mini Reese's and other types of candy. The true horror came when our movie marathon opened with the absolutely fabulous classic, "Ghostbusters" (1984). Strangely, Halloween was not as festive as I was anticipating. I had thought I would be more preoccupied with planning for the day, but instead, I stumbled into it barely prepared. As I gazed out the window, I continued to see hoards of college students dressed in crazy outfits doing crazy things. Then I realized that Halloween is not just about wearing different clothes - it's about giving yourself a break for a day by channelling another persona, regardless of if you put the effort in or not. The night did, however, confirm one expectation I had of the college Halloween experience: People go crazy. I sat back and relaxed to watch the movie, when the door behind me opened and slammed shut without anyone entering.
"If it's somethin' weird an' it don't look good. Who yagonna call? Ghostbusters!" a voice yelled.
NimartaNarang is a freshman who has not yet declared a major. She can be reached at Nimarta.Narang@tufts.edu.
