Every year for Halloween, I dress up in my costume of choice and go to class all day dressed as such. I did this in grade school, junior high, high school, and now, college.

In my family, Halloween is the second biggest holiday to celebrate. Four out of four years, my father and I have given our own helping hands toward running a local haunted house that draws more than 300 people per night on average.

This is the ultimate form of expression to me, and I relish the opportunity. Hence, I will gladly walk around campus this year and every other year I am in college dressed head to toe in Halloween garb.

Despite the very nature of the holiday, I can’t help but notice the plentiful stares that turn my way when I stroll down the sidewalk. Well, you know what? I hereby request that such stares cease and desist immediately.

Even since its earliest inception as a pagan Celtic ritual, costumes and uninhibited celebrations have been defining characteristics of Halloween. Why do people feel so embarrassed about this?

People tell me that I look foolish or that it’s pointless to get all dressed up to such an extreme, but I can’t help but feel sorry for these people and their pitiful, costume-less existence. They are normal, everyday citizens, too afraid to step outside the realms of comfort to pursue fun.

They are sheep, mindlessly doing what they are “supposed to.”

“We’re not supposed to put on costumes. We’re adults. Grow up, Sophie.”

Growing up does not mean letting go of our childhood or the gleeful bliss we can only experience when horribly embarrassing ourselves before a massive audience. Growing up means taking responsibility. That’s pretty much the biggest thing.

So where does it say anything about letting go of unashamed, self-indulgent fun?

I dressed up as a whore my freshman year. No joke. Sort of like a play off the skimpy costumes advertised for women. Sophomore year I was a sexy werewolf. This year, I’ll be a sultry and seductive Sith from Star Wars.

All of these were original ideas. I took the time to come up with an original plan or original interpretation of an old idea to come up with my costume. Let me tell you, the satisfaction one gets when seeing their costume really pay off is absolutely amazing. Having a costume that is uniquely yours and no one else’s only ups the ante.

Oh, and get some candy while you’re at it, would ya? Helps loosen ya up, make you feel a bit more optimistic. Sweets — chocolate especially — are known to raise endorphin levels in the human brain, causing the subject to feel happier.

Don’t tell me that doesn’t sound nice.

I suppose I’m really asking you guys the question here: Why is there such an aversion to people embarrassing themselves? Or not even that so much as people just putting themselves out there. It doesn’t seem to happen. People just think it’s too immature.

And this doesn’t just apply to Halloween, I hope you know. No matter what the event or situation, we will sit there complacently, earphones buzzing, passing silent judgment on those around us rather than actually interact with the populace that surrounds us.

We sit on the bus with, eat with, walk with and otherwise interact with people we don’t know. But we don’t say anything. Is it because, just like you’re too scared or embarrassed to wear a costume on Halloween, you’re too scared to put yourself out there for people to see the real you?

I understand it’s a scary holiday but come on, people. You’re better than that. You’re braver than that.

Aren’t you?

— Sophie Prell is a junior in pre-journalism and mass communication from Alta.