Imagine if you were at school on Halloween and everyone was wearing costumes, not worried about others’ judgement and having fun with Halloween spirit. Unfortunately that is not often the reality at Northport High School. Why is this the case?

Personally when I think about wearing a Halloween costume in school I immediately shut down the idea, telling myself that people will judge me and that I shouldn’t put myself through the embarrassment. Then, when I watch classmates show up with costumes, not worrying about other peoples’ opinions, I become annoyed at myself for not taking advantage of the one day where it is ok to wear a random outfit in school. 

In freshman year I dressed as a kangaroo, which was definitely an interesting decision… It was fun but many people gave me odd looks throughout the day and some even laughed. Why does it matter that I dressed up for Halloween? The rest of the school looked lame in their basic outfits they repeat every week. Also my costume was just a kangaroo… It was not that serious, no need to be so critical.

For another student’s perspective on the topic I asked my friend and fellow junior Chloe Reyes, she told me “I dress up in school for Halloween because it’s the only day where I can dress silly… It’s my favorite holiday so I like to participate in things related to it.” I actually find this to be inspiring; challenging social norms is not a common sight and definitely takes some courage. 

Chloe points out that “not many people dress up for Halloween in school, so I like to be different!” Reyes gives off an authentic “unapologetically myself” feeling, which I don’t sense from many other students at Northport High School. 

I also asked my friend and fellow junior Emma Olson what her thought process is for Halloween. Emna tells me that it’s too much effort “because later I’m going to have to change into my actual costume.” I understand this, if someone wants to wear a certain costume for Halloween that they might not want to wear at school; For example if it’s something funny like my kangaroo costume. 

Also school starts at 7:50 AM, which means if a student takes a bus they have to wake up early, and after staying at school to go to their clubs, rehearsal, sports, or honor society meetings and then have to do homework for a few hours. Students may not have much energy or motivation to put on a Halloween costume for school instead of wearing something familiar and comfortable.