Print staff writers Graham Collins (left) and Jamia Echols (right) share their very different experiences with Halloween and how it effects them in this edition of “My word vs yours”. Graphic by Aneesa Conine-Nakano.
By GRAHAM COLLINS – Print Staff Writer
By JAMIA ECHOLS – Print Staff Writer
Print staff writers Graham Collins and Jamia Echols share their thoughts and memories of Halloween and how the holiday’s traditions have effected them.
With Halloween by Graham Collins
Halloween has always been an important time for my family to come together. I loved dressing up with my mom or passing out candy with my dad. Halloween is about creating moments that make me smile.
Halloween brings to mind horror, dressing up, decorating and spending time with family. For a lot of families, this holiday is a fun time to let loose and spend time together.
Dressing up has always been one of the perks of Halloween. Having the freedom to be whatever you want and to be as crazy as you want is wonderful. I love seeing all of the creative things people wear, to be able to walk by a serial killer talking to a princess is something that can only happen once a year.
Another fun thing about Halloween, besides seeing the costumes, is all of the decorations around town. It can be a coffin in the yard down the street, or a body hanging from a tree. People go all out with their Halloween spirit.
Trick-or-treating up and down Boulevard, a street in Normal Town, really entices a community feeling after seeing both children and adults participating in the festivities. Lots of the people on Boulevard decorate for the holiday, putting up spiderwebs in the trees, or creating a “murder site” in their yard.
One thing that symbolizes Halloween greatest for my family is when we all carve pumpkins. Helping my little sister carve a scary face, or teaching my mom how to carve an owl are things that never fail to make me smile. Getting to work together and make jack-o-lanterns has always been my favorite fall activity.
The thought of roasting pumpkin seeds with my mom or putting string lights up with my dad will forever be some of my favorite memories.
Halloween is such a happy time for me because it is very family oriented. Getting to spend time with my family is something I cherish. Halloween has brought memories I will hold onto forever.
Without Halloween by Jamia Echols
For as long as I can remember, my family has never celebrated Halloween. They feel as though Halloween lacks purpose.
When I was little, I would watch as all the other children in my neighborhood walked around in cool princess costumes or funny superhero outfits and get candy from all the houses down my street.
I didn’t understand why my mom didn’t want us to go dress up in costumes and get candy too. Every so often, I would ask my her why we didn’t celebrate Halloween and why she did not like the holiday. I would get the same response.
“Halloween isn’t a holiday that celebrates Christianity. So, we don’t celebrate it.”
During elementary school, in 2009 the Friday before Halloween the teachers let the students come to school in their costumes. While all my peers came to school in their costumes, my twin sister and I stood out because we could not wear costumes. That year we were so embarrassed we didn’t have costumes we told our peers that we were dressed up as each other, because we dressed alike in elementary school.
The older I have become, the less I care about Halloween and the less it bothers me that I do not celebrate it. I am no longer embarrassed. Halloween has become like every other day of the year for me.
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More from Jamia Echols
