By Jordy Acevedo, Katelyn Barnett, Angelina Celedon, Ian Conrardy, Shoshana Sefia, Ralph Gallo, Emma King, Ana Karen Meza, Marisol Pino, Eunice Sanchez, Viridiana Sarabia, Usiel Teran and Christina Wilson
College of Southern Nevada students are taking over Halloween. Students share their traditions both old and new to express their appreciations for the holiday.
Alaina Derkas, CSN student, loved trick or treating. She said, “I would trick or treat months after Halloween. I’d put on a costume and Mom would open the door and give me candy over and over again.”
CSN students Jennifer Avalos and Hailey Metta reflected on spooky childhood memories.
Avalos shared how her grandma was frightened one Halloween night. “My favorite Halloween memory would by far be my sophomore year in high school. My family and I all dressed up and went to a haunted house and my grandma ended up hitting a person in the haunted house.” The person was dressed in costume and took her by surprise.
“My brother and I were coming up to this house that was very scary,” Metta said. “This guy dressed as a werewolf came out of nowhere and scared my brother and I. My brother got mad at me because I abandoned him.”
Halloween is generally categorized as a children’s holiday.
Linus Owens, associate professor of sociology at Middlebury College said, “By 2005 just over half of adults celebrated Halloween. Today, that number has grown to over 70 percent.” He adds, “Those between 18 and 34 years old participate at the highest rate and they’re also the holiday’s biggest spenders shelling out over twice as much on their costumes as older adults and children.”
American Express Saving and Spending Tracker reports that adults are spending an average of $123 this year compared to last year’s $53.
A student at CSN Meghan Golomb thinks kids like seeing adults dressed up.
“This year for Halloween I was thinking about [wearing] my prom dress I have. It’s a big, blue, beautiful ball gown and I was going to get a blonde wig and dress up as Cinderella,” Golomb said.
Other students are creating their own traditions with their loved ones.
“What’s so different about Halloween now is that I am a Type 1 diabetic so I couldn’t trick or treat back then but now I can celebrate Halloween with my son,” said Vergine Baljian, CSN student.
Derkas shared one of her current traditions. “My boyfriend and I watch a horror movie a day from Oct. 1 to Halloween.”
“Halloween is such a good-natured thing for people of all ages,” Golomb said. “It’s a great way to get involved in your community.”
Coyote Student News at the College of Southern Nevada 