Maliena Carelli, junior psychology major and sports management minor
What did you look forward to most as a kid during Halloween?
“It was probably dressing up, getting the candy, but then also spending time with my family and friends and trick-or-treating. And I went to a tiny private school, and we had this thing called trunk-or-treat, and instead of going trick-or-treating you just opened the back of your car and went trick-or-treating in the parking lot of your school because we couldn’t go out with our friends. I always looked forward to trunk-or-treating because everyone would see my costume.”
What’s your funniest trick story?
“Probably the way my mom decorated our house. People would be scared to go up to my mom’s house and ask for candy and trick-or-treat because she would put spiders and spider webs everywhere where you couldn’t walk through the porch. So, my favorite part was helping my mom with that and instigating her delusions of Halloween.”
Did you have any special traditions during Halloween?
“My whole family on my mom’s side would come to Halloween, and we would host it, and my mom would make a massive pot of chili for the night. So that’s always what I looked forward to. Also, just being able to hang out with my sisters and be the older sister that bosses them around while we trick-or-treated was fun.”
How have those traditions changed since coming to college?
“Halloween to me growing up was always freezing cold in the fall, but here I still sweat. And it’s such a weird concept for me to grasp. Halloween is just about the costumes. It’s different because it’s all about the costumes and the parties; it’s not about the tricks and spookiness of it anymore, which makes me really sad. It doesn’t feel like Halloween when I’m in Texas at all. But it’s still fun because everyone talks about that weekend, and it always brings about so much tradition with Trinity, and I feel like it’s a holiday that everyone can participate in, so that’s fun.”

Jules Blues, first-year international studies major
What did you look forward to most as a kid during Halloween?
“Trick-or-treating with my friends and family.”
What’s your funniest trick story?
“The year that “It” was really big, kids tied a bunch of red balloons filled with helium to the inside of storm drains. So we were freaking out.”
What candy did you look forward to getting most?
“Pink Laffy Taffy.”
What was the costume you were most excited about?
“One time, I made myself be a bowl of Fruit Loops cereal, and I made the costume myself, and it was super cool.”
Did you have any special traditions during Halloween?
“My neighborhood used to have a costume contest, so that was that.”

Danny Nguyen, senior marketing and communication double-major
What did you look forward to most as a kid during Halloween?
“I looked forward most to the candy. My favorite candy of all time is Twix, so anytime I got Twix from trick-or-treating, it was like the best day of the year.”
What’s your funniest trick story?
“Well, one time, there was a sitting scarecrow on a chair with a bucket of candy, and I was like three years old, and it scared me, and I fell down a flight of stairs.”
Did you have any special traditions during Halloween?
“We had a small tradition of going to the shopping mall. Our shopping mall did trick-or-treating at the different stores, so we actually went to each store and got some candy and different treats, so that’s a tradition we did for like forever.”
What was the costume you were most excited about?
“I had always wanted to be Superman, so that was my costume.”
How have those traditions changed since coming to college?
“I think coming to college, you’re growing up, you’re more mature, and so while there’s some nostalgia, like, for example, going on Halloween on Oakmont for trick-or-treating, you and your friend group are definitely going to do different things — attending parties or watching Halloween movies. It’s not necessarily mature things but a balance of keeping up with how old you are but also being nostalgic at the same time.”

James Crosnoe, junior political science major
What did you look forward to most as a kid during Halloween?
“I always looked forward to getting the chance to run around my neighborhood with my friends and my older brother. The candy was always great. But getting to get out and kinda be silly was always fun.”
What’s your funniest trick story?
“My mom is hilarious, and she would always scare us as kids. There was one time where she set up a Halloween scavenger hunt for us, and at the end, she hid at the top of the stairs, so when my brother and I came running up, she popped out in a gorilla mask and scared us.”
What candy did you look forward to getting most?
“When I was a kid, I really didn’t like chocolate; I don’t know why. So I was all about sour gummy anything, but now that I’ve grown up, I’m a big Reese’s peanut butter cup person.”
What was the costume you were most excited about?
“When I was in kindergarten, I was Robin and my brother was Batman, and I think that was a pretty good costume.”
How have those traditions changed since coming to college?
“Definitely growing up moving away from trick-or-treating and into more adult Halloween traditions. Actually tonight I’m getting together with some friends, and we’re doing a Halloween horror movie potluck. So, it’s still about sharing treats and getting together with friends, which is kinda what it was when I was a kid. But in college, it’s more about seeing the people I really care about.”

Kyla Murphy, sophomore business analytics and technology and marketing double-major
What did you look forward to most as a kid during Halloween?
“Obviously trick-or-treating. I think it was really fun for me and my brother because we would always go together because we were similar ages, and sometimes we would coordinate our costumes. So when I was really young, I would look forward to going with my brother.”
What’s your funniest trick story?
“I used to get scared really easily. So it was a thing for my family, so my parents would scare me, and my brother would scare me [while trick-or-treating].”
Did you have any special traditions during Halloween?
“My family and I would always do the pumpkin patch and then carve it. My dad was really into carving the pumpkins, so my brother and I would draw on them, and when we were too young to use the knives, my dad would carve it for us.”
How have those traditions changed since coming to college?
“I think my parents now like to give out candy, and I like to do it with them if I’m home, but now that I’m in college, I don’t really spend it with them, so I guess we don’t really have those traditions anymore. I feel like now it’s more friend-oriented, and I like planning costumes with my friends and figuring out how to celebrate it with college friends. It’s more the fall vibes now. It’s just a fun time of year. And I really like the pumpkin drinks from Starbucks.”