By Shanice Davis

It is that time of the year where the leaves transition to oranges, reds and yellows, where the air

gets cooler, days get shorter and where for one night of the year people dress up in costumes,

scare little kids and pass out cavity ridden candy.

Childhood Halloween celebrations were riddled with candy, trick or treating, scary movie nights,

Halloween parties with friends and getting dressed in flirty or scary costumes.

When asked about Halloween traditions, our fellow Cougars grew excited and nostalgic from the

simple thought of Halloween alone.

CSUSM freshman Josh Morones reminisced about Halloween time with his friends and family.

“When I was younger, or still, my neighborhood has been one of the most popular destinations

for trick or treating,” Morones said. “We would get people from Tijuana, we would get buses

with tons of people and my street would get totally packed. We would also get a huge mob of

people, some would be twenty-five, and others would be two years old. It would just be a whole

bunch of people trick or treating together.”

CSUSM junior, Nicholas Bruno, pondered his early childhood as he mentioned that he does not

currently have much of a tradition as he once did. However, as a child, he would get ready for

the festivities by preparing their home for the mysterious night to come.

“As a kid, I’d paint ghosts, pumpkins and spooky things on my window,” Bruno said.

CSUSM junior, Diana Garcia, celebrates the same way every year, while sometimes helping kids

in the process.

“I watch Hocus Pocus every Halloween either by myself or with others and since I’ve been

working with kids at Project REACH, I have them watch it too,” Garcia said.

CSUSM junior, Michael Martinez, sticks close to his Mexican heritage as he describes that he

and his family commemorate Dia de Los Muertos.

“Our Halloween tradition is the Day of the Dead,” Martinez said. “We would place a table in

our living room and just have it open to put food on it for those who have passed away; the ones

(foods) we know they liked, and we’ll leave it there for two nights.”

Regardless of what Halloween traditions students have grown up with– trick or treating,

partying, apple bobbing or just kicking back watching Halloween classics–it still remains a

holiday that brings out the kid in us all.

Whatever Halloween shenanigans you’re involved in, be sure to have fun and be safe out there

Cougars. Happy Halloween!