Halloween is almost here, and when this classic spooky holiday arrives, student celebrations should include more wholesome fun and less revealing devil costumes. 

Halloween, in the innocence of my youth, was one of the most fun times of the year. 

I would dress up as anything ranging from a princess to a gunslinging cowboy. My family would group with our cousins and wander the safe neighborhoods begging at doors for candy. 

After walking through the dark, we would gather at my grandmother’s house and swap candy. One Reese’s for six Twizzlers, any takers? It was there I first learned how to bargain, as well as how to get thoroughly ripped off. 

The day was fun. It was spooky. And it was filled with candy.

But then, unfortunately, I grew up. And I see a very different side of the holiday. 

Now Halloween isn’t the same. Costumes have to be sexy, parties need to have beer, and decor must be gory. 

Why is it that we feel the need to demonstrate our adulthood through nastiness and debauchery? 

A risqué witch outfit isn’t appropriate just because it’s Halloween weekend. 

Getting drunk is not a sign of maturity. Making a mature choice means not doing something simply because everyone else is doing it.  

The modern world seems to have an unhealthy obsession with darkness. The costumes filling the stores unfortunately show a love for the dark parts of halloween: the witches, the demons, the ghouls. 

However, can we really say that celebrating the dark lines up with Hillsdale’s principles?

So this Halloween season, I plan to enjoy the genuinely good parts of fall: listening to the leaves crunch beneath my feet on the way to class, wearing my sweaters and coats, and eating and drinking everything and anything pumpkin flavored. 

And on Halloween itself, there’s not anything wrong with a costume or a party. But keep it mature. Don’t try to prove your age by falling into what our culture considers the “grown-up” way of celebrating. 

Ask why you’re doing something, whether it’s actually good, and if you are representing yourself and this college the way you should. 

The easiest way to do this is to exchange your beer for some candy, and that revealing costume for a wholesome cowboy suit.