We're never too old for Halloween

By Martha Martinez

Trick or treating is usually reserved for young children, but don’t tell that to 18-year-old student Mai Chang.

Chang plans on going trick or treating this Sunday with a group of friends. They did the same thing last year on Halloween.

“People laughed,” she said. But some people told her and her friends older people should dress up more often.

That’s one reason why she plans to dress up as what she described as a “naughty professor,” complete with a short skirt, collared shirt and high heels. Her friends will dress up as the characters from the video game Street Fighter, she said.

But Chang isn’t completely comfortable trick or treating in her neighborhood.

“I’m going to go far away from where I live so people won’t recognize me,” Chang said. “I think it’s going to be fun.”

While some students are out trick or treating and partying, some will be passing out candy.

Paul Crockette and Josh Beldem, who attend Campus Baptist, will help out with the church’s gathering in its gym Sunday night, offering games for children.

“We’re doing it for the kids,” Crockette said. “We’re going to help kids win candy.”

Halloween is celebrated in many different ways among students.

Some stick to trick or treating, others attend parties, some watch scary movies and some go to church.

“I’m going to have a Presbyterian night of worship,” said University High student Austin Krohn.

But no matter how students celebrate Halloween, it has changed from when the holiday first came about.

According to the History Channel Web site, Halloween originated thousands of years ago from a sacred Celtic festival held to celebrate the beginning of winter on Oct. 31. They believed the ghosts of the dead returned to earth that night. The Celtics lived more than 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland. They celebrated the festival by dressing up in costumes, having sacred bonfires for burning crops and animal sacrificed to please their gods.