Trick-or-treating is an age old tradition in which almost every young child partakes. There isn't anything much better as a kid than dressing up as your favorite character, running around the neighborhood with your friends and getting beaucoup candy that will last you until probably next Halloween.
However, in East Lansing the experience could be different. Growing up in a college town may change the trick-or-treating experience for a kid.
MSU’s ability to offer diverse attributes and ideas for trick-or-treating is what really captivated journalism major, Adam Mackey.
Mackey grew up off of Coolidge Rd. by Frandor Mall, around the border of East Lansing and Lansing. But it was still close enough to campus to get the college experience.
“I think there’s definitely more trash. I think that’s something,” said Mackey. “There’s just more things around. A lot more crazier people out, especially out later. Decorations are incredible.”
Mackey also experienced an interesting mix in his bag of goodies after his trick-or-treating escapades.
“Some of the stuff that you get from trick-or-treating is interesting,” said Mackey. “I’ve gotten anything from candy to I think I got pencils one year. You get a large assortment of things.”
According to Mackey, growing up and trick-or-treating in a college town was a good experience.
“It was definitely enjoyable,” he said. “Especially being here my whole life, I would know where people’s houses were and stuff and go around there.”
The experience also could be similar to your average kid. Jonas Holstein, a physics junior who grew up off of Michigan Ave. just across from the Brody Complex, said his experience as a kid was similar to those of others. Holstein said he trick-or-treated in other neighborhoods a lot as a child because his own neighborhood lacked a wealth of children. Other than that, he said his Halloween experience as a kid was no different.
“I think some of that might get buried underneath,” said Hallstein, admitting that he may have been protected from the perils of Halloween in East Lansing. “As a kid you might not understand if college kids are doing college things because your parents might try to shield you from that.”
Then again, despite being very near campus, Hallstein didn’t live in a high-volume student area. There was only one student house nearby.
“There’s a house that’s just on the corner of my block. That house, I think it’s like four to eight college kids,” said Hallstein.
Hallstein said that he did admittedly get a bit of a different experience, as when he was a kid, when Halloween was nearing, shops in downtown East Lansing would place a special twist on the week.
“They would have [the shops] do a little trick-or-treating event where the kids would come in and get candy,” said Hallstein. That was kind of cool.”
Braden Hanks, a music education sophomore that grew up near Valley Ct. by Crunchy’s in East Lansing, said that his original home was always loud on Halloween due to parties and rowdy college students. He said his experience may have been slightly unique, but not all that different from the regular kid.
“When I lived by Valley Ct., it was just a little bit louder just because of the vicinity that we were to college students,” said Hanks. “But other than that, it didn’t seem to different than what I would think.”
One of the most pressing questions of the case of trick-or-treating in a college town is: how do you pick which houses to go to?
“We went to ones we knew weren’t leases by college students,” Hanks said. “Probably because most college students wouldn’t have as much candy.”
Hanks eventually moved to Chartwell Carriage Way, a street near Pinecrest Dr. off of Harrison Rd. about one-and-a-half miles from campus in the outskirts of East Lansing, where it was quieter and college students didn’t roam the streets at night. There, he said, was a completely regular trick-or-treating experience.
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