By GRACE CHUNG, junior

Trick-or-Treat! Just a few days ago, you must have heard dozens of children chanting this familiar phrase at your doorstep. As the end of October approached, one of the most iconic American traditions returned, transforming the somewhat cute kids on your block into little monsters with plastic wings and cotton-filled muscles. With costumes, decorations, and enormous amounts of candy, Halloween is always quite a chaotic scene to behold. With such a festive atmosphere, however, it is a pity that many teenagers chose to stay home this year rather than go out and spend the evening having fun.

While high school students are definitely not too old for candy, they certainly can’t run around screaming like seven-year-olds. Scratch that—high school students couldn’t afford to run around because they still had stacks of books on their desk waiting to be read. Unfortunately, the most common reason high school students bailed on trick-or-treating was because they had too much work on their plates, not candy.

“But I have to get good grades to get into a good college!” they exclaimed in an effort to defend themselves. Still, those mini-Ironmen and mini-Cinderellas who were incessantly ringing your doorbell probably didn’t understand your dilemma. On the night of the 31st you might as well have abandoned your plans to study and handed out candy instead. Unless you wore lawn mower earmuffs and left the candy distribution to someone else, your studying was never going to happen anyways. Kudos for trying, though.

“I wanted to go, but I just feel too awkward and old to go trick-or-treating,” others complained. Nonsense. All teenagers can muster up enough spirit to run around in a costume. And who cares if you wear the same old cape and mask from third grade to ask for candy? The worst that could happen on Halloween is being turned down by an unamused parent who takes one look at your last-minute costume and says some nonsense along the lines of, “Aren’t you a bit old? Halloween is for kids.” Just go out and demand your free share of candy!

Nevertheless, there were those lucky few who went all out and celebrated Halloween to the fullest. They were the first to kick off the mischief, quickly whizzing through their own neighborhoods before scrounging around remote neighborhoods for even more treats.  These people stayed out late to stock up their supplies of candy for the rest of the school year, even though they know their stashes won’t last until Christmas. Admit it—you, too, used to grab a fistful of candy from the basket even though the sign requested that you only “help yourself to ONE!”

Now that another Halloween has come and gone, it’s a good time to think about the real purpose of the holiday—spending time with family, and being grateful—just kidding. It’s all about having fun! Whether it’s going to the Halloween party down the street or handing out treats at home, next year you should consider taking a night off to to experience the festivity and excitement of the holiday. As high school students, we are not kids anymore, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a break from our textbooks and relive the spooktacular joys of trick-or-treating.

[Featured image by Huffington Post]