Halloween in the United States is a time often renowned for extravagant spooky lawn decorations, numerous pumpkins both big and small and most of all, parties and trick-or-treating. But for many students at this school, including senior Mikyle Khan, Halloween is no longer a fun and eventful holiday, but rather a day to reminisce about their childhoods. 

Khan said Halloween is a day of remembrance of his childhood. Khan and his family still celebrate Halloween by giving out candy to trick-or-treaters and decorating their house, but he said he and his siblings now stay home on Halloween night to engage in their academic studies, even if they wanted to go out. 

“When I was younger, I was so excited to go trick-or-treating. I would dress up as my favorite Marvel characters like Iron Man and Captain America. Now, I don’t have time to go because of my classes, and there is also this thing where you’re considered ‘too old’ to go trick-or-treating,” Khan said.  

Khan is not the only person at this school who feels this way. Many students here said they recognize that they have grown up and that they are reaching far beyond their childhood days. 

For sophomore Kaden Rush, Halloween is a bittersweet time as he said he watches his younger brother attend Halloween festivities while he stays home to tend to his schoolwork. Rush said he finds himself missing his younger years where he did not have such a colossal pressure of staying atop of his grades and extracurriculars. 

“My brother dresses up and goes trick-or-treating on Halloween, but I just stay home because I have bigger responsibilities and it’s so cold that I don’t want to go outside,” Rush said. “My friends also like to go to parties and go trick-or-treating, but I don’t have time to go with them.” 

Khan said as a young child, he attended many Halloween parties and festivities that meant a lot to him. Halloween night used to be a time to spend time with friends and family and a way of bonding and getting closer to one another. 

“When I was younger I had a lot of friends back in California who would throw Halloween parties and it was a really fun way to spend time together,” Khan said. “I really enjoyed it. My family also used to watch scary movies together on Halloween night, but now we all have our own things to get done whether it be for work or school.”

Rush said although many of his friends throw Halloween parties, he finds them exhausting and nothing like that of when he was younger. 

“The few times I’ve attended the parties that my friends throw on Halloween, I always would want to go home because it’s too loud and there’s also a lot of people I don’t know and people doing, I guess, questionable things. So, it’s kind of awkward,” Rush said. “When I was younger, I liked the Halloween parties better because we just did pumpkin carving and eating cookies while we watched movies. It was a more comfortable atmosphere.”

However, sophomore Jake Bengero said he does not feel the same as Rush and Khan. He said that he really enjoys Halloween, and there are more festivities he can take part in now than when he was a young child. 

“When I was younger, we just went trick-or-treating,” Bengero said. “But now that I’m older, I get to go to parties and go to places like Indy Screampark with my friends, but I can also go trick-or-treating still because who doesn’t like free candy?”

Even though times have changed, for Khan, Halloween will forever be a part of his growing up story.

“Halloween is a holiday where you either celebrate it or you don’t,” Khan said. “Like my parents passing out candy and decorating the house, but I don’t personally celebrate it anymore because I am older now. Some things change, it’s just the process of growing up.”