My mom is not a fan of Halloween. She believes it is a holiday derived from occult traditions which clash with the strong Catholic values with which she raised my four older siblings and me.

So, when Oct. 31 rolled around, my siblings and I talked to our friends about their costumes, and they replied with shocked faces.

But the alternative for me wasn’t that bad. I got a half-day off from school. While everyone else was outside for the Halloween parade in the torturous October weather wearing awkward costumes, my mom took us out to lunch and shopping.

When trick-or-treaters sprawled throughout the neighborhood, we’d get together with family friends for a fall-themed party with apple dunking, a piñata, pizza and movies. Swinging a bat to get candy is a lot less work than walking a few miles.

When it was really cold out, we’d watch the bouncing pumpkin buckets hobble by, with their owners shivering and wondering whether their frozen hands were worth the free fun-size Snickers bars.

But I still begged my mom to go. I knew it would be miserable, but it was a part of elementary life that I never got to experience. I was sick of being the awkward kid that had to leave school early because “Katie doesn’t celebrate Halloween.”

In middle school, I finally got to go out for Halloween and chose a light-hearted costume — a fairy — rather than match my friends’ gothic witch costumes. I don’t remember how much candy I got or whether I had fun. My fond Halloween memories go back to eating pizza, dunking for apples and whacking an oddly shaped donkey on the butt for some sweets.

Celebrating Halloween in college is fun for the same reason — having people around whom you care about trumps collecting and consuming candy or cocktails. And while I’d love to incorporate a piñata, a swinging papier-maché animal may cause more harm than good at college. I’ll save that one for my kids down the road.

While I was once angry with my mom for holding me back from Halloween, I’m now grateful. Being left out may seem like deprivation, but sometimes it just makes you unique.

Kate Polesnak is the State News food and fitness reporter. She can be reached at polesna1@msu.edu.