Senior Brynn Schanski has dressed up in a variety of different costumes over the years, ranging from a pea pod when she was a baby to Bucky Barnes—her most recent attire.

Although everyone who celebrates Halloween shares relatively similar traditions of dressing up and collecting absurd amounts of candy, it still means something different from person to person, and for Brynn, it is a creative outlet where she can show off her thoroughly thought out costumes.  

“I have always loved Halloween ever since I was a little kid,” Brynn said. “I just loved dressing up and being able to use my imagination in that aspect because, sometimes at school, you can’t always have that outlet, and I have been a creative person ever since I was little because that’s what little kids do, and it has just stuck with me. I like to put a lot of effort into my Halloween costumes each year.” 

With the amount of effort that Brynn puts into her costumes each year, it takes a lot of work to find the right character to be and how much organization it takes to make sure the costume is perfect.

Due to all the work involved with the costume process, Brynn has been planning what she is going to be since this summer, and that character is Bucky Barnes from Marvel. However, in addition to her personal costume, she also wanted someone to dress up as Captain America—who is Bucky Barnes’s best friend in the movies—alongside her. 

“I usually connect my Halloween costumes to my current obsession,” Brynn said. “This year, that was Bucky Barnes from Marvel, and I also really wanted to have someone be Captain America with me because I thought that it would be super fun to be a pair. I convinced [senior] Benji Zorn to be Captain America with me.”

During the costume-making process, Benji, although not nearly as passionate as Brynn in the costume planning department, was still happy to dress up with her. 

Benji’s Captain America costume was made up of an old Age of Empires shield, painted to look like Captain America’s shield and a borrowed t-shirt that has Captain America’s logo on it.

“I put the minimal amount of effort into [making my costume],” Benji said, “and Brynn put the maximum amount of effort possible, so she, at least, made up for my lack of effort a little bit, but it was quite funny comparing my makeshift costume to Brynn going all out as Bucky.”

Although Halloween costumes might not be Benji’s go-to favorite thing about this crisp, pumpkin-apple scented season, there are still many beautiful things that occur as soon as Halloween hits. 

Benji views Halloween as the official start of fall, and with that, comes amazing weather and family traditions that he adores. 

“I generally think of Halloween as the real start of fall,” Benji said. “It’s really when you start to get the coldness outside and most of the leaves are on the ground. It’s just a great vibe that is kind of like an internal feeling that starts each year around Halloween.”

Similar to Benji, junior Carter Lions thinks of Halloween as fall colors, costumes, candy, and time well spent with his friends and family.

Carter has loved Halloween for as long as he can remember. When he was little, it was him who was always went out trick-or-treating and collected bags of candy, but just because he is older now, he still keeps the tradition alive by taking his brother out trick-or-treating around their neighborhood. 

“I have been taking my little brother trick-or-treating for a while now,” Carter said, “and we have a really good time each year. One year, I actually dressed up in a matching costume with my little brother for fun because, for my family, it really is a time that we like to do stuff together like trick-or-treating and haunted houses and such.”

Everyone has different things that they love about Halloween and fall: weather, trick-or-treating, costumes, and even quality family time. However, most importantly, it’s about having fun and letting go for a night Carter explains. 

Although he might feel old now, one day, he is actually going to be an adult, so he wants to soak up all the fun fall festivities now while he still can. 

“Dress up for Halloween, take a younger sibling trick-or-treating, and just have some fun,” Carter said. “Because as you get older, you never know when you’re not going to be able to do that stuff anymore, so just have an amazing, carefree night, and wear a costume.”