OPINION: Halloween not the only spooky thing

By David Gomez Jr.
Editor-in-chief
Published Monday, Oct. 11, 2021

Every year since returning to school, Halloween remains a stressful time for college students—or at least for me. 

Midterms on the horizon, awkward group project meetups, deadlines for assignments that change from Sunday night to Friday evening at a moment’s notice? All this and more make me sweat through my ’90s dad-approved apparel, right down to the New Balance sneakers that I bought at Academy with my leftover financial aid refund.

If I’m gonna move, then it better be in comfort. As I approach the sweet young age of 30 this December, I better get used to it. 

However, that’s beside the point: due to being in and out of school for so long, I seem to have noticed something during my senior year, more than in my former years.

Deadlines start looking like a challenge, tardiness in class turns into a common occurrence and sitting in front of the class actually helps improve my grades. That, alongside my steady participation and sharp attention span, of course.

Nevertheless, I don’t think it’s intentional. Nobody starts off college wanting to hang on by a proverbial thread. Definitely not.

It came naturally and I did not realize this because when I sat in the back of the class, I couldn’t hear a damn thing. I showed up late to class because the first five minutes are usually a recap of the last lecture. These things I acclimated to, yet must face consequences because I strive and maintain the hunger to learn. 

Unfortunately, there is a drawback to this method; to the wrong person, it can lead down a lethargic pattern. 

Procrastinating and rushing assignments to get supposed “creative juices” flowing leaves out quality time with family and friends. Nine times out of 10, weekend activities with them will fall on the deadline for those assignments left undone.

I wonder, as most students, if this is normal? The thrill of turning in an assignment at exactly 11:59 p.m. on Blackboard or leaving your laptop on the kitchen table for a minute because there was something interesting on TV that I just had to tune in.

I am this person. I start my video projects at midnight for some reason and finish them by 5 a.m.—just enough time for an hour of sleep before heading off to work. Why am I like this? 

I may have found an answer—at least for me—as I’m trying to rationalize it as much as possible so I can live with myself. Emotional masochism, I think, describes it quite perfectly. Not in a relationship with another person kind of way, but the latter of the definition—the challenge that keeps the senses in overload. 

And that’s it: I don’t think I can sum it up better than that. I hope this is just a college-life thing, but who am I kidding? 

Happy Halloween.