Josie Sgarlata, Staff Writer

Halloween is a memorable holiday for some Utica College students. Many students recall some of their best memories revolving around Halloween. Halloween parties, celebrating with family and friends, going to haunted houses or even scavenger hunts are some favorites during this time of year.

Senior Christian Tiffin’s favorite Halloween memory ended up leading to friendship during her freshman year.

“ I wore what I thought was a great costume that nobody else would have, but when I got out later that night, I found another guy wearing the same thing,” Tiffin said. “ It turned out that the other guy would end up being one of my good friends three years later and I think it’s cool that something random like that would lead to a great friendship.”

Tiffin has luck when it comes to meeting people on Halloween. In fact, he met his current girlfriend on a Halloween night.

“Another memory of mine from Halloween would be when I introduced myself to someone with the name that was on my costume and she immediately walked away,” Tiffin said. “Three years later, she is now my girlfriend and still holds a grudge for giving her a fake name when we met.”

Senior Carly Tebolt had some great Halloween scavenger hunt memories from her childhood.

“When I was little my neighbor would have this crazy Halloween scavenger hunt at Locust Grove, which is a historical landmark close to where I live,” Tebolt said. “We would dress up and split up into teams, decode clues to find certain objects whoever was the first team back won a prize. We did that for a couple years until their family moved away. It was a favorite memory for me because the adventure of it, it was exciting to be in competition and see what the whole story was.”

Tebolt also recalls a great time she had one year going through a haunted corn maze with her cousin.

“Another favorite Halloween memory is when my mom’s job went to a haunted hayride,” Tebolt said. “It was pretty scary, they chased you through corn mazes with chainsaws. My cousin was tired of running and she’s taller than me, so she picked me up and used me as a human shield which made it so much more scarier for me.”

Senior Rylee Meelan’s birthday falls right on Halloween, leaving her with plenty of favorite memories.

“I would always have a birthday party with all of my friends before we went trick or treating together,” Meelan said.

She also has a favorite haunted house spot that she enjoys to go to once this season rolls around.

“In my hometown of Clinton there is a house where Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, attended school and the current owners turn the first floor into a haunted house,” Meelan said. “ This was my favorite spot to check out every year.”

Senior Madison Babicz loved going to wealthy family homes on Halloween and getting all the big candy bars and slushies.

“One of my favorite memories I had was when I went to my rich friends neighborhood where they have free slushies and full-size candy bars,” Babicz said. “ It was so fun to get free food and also trick or treat in someone else’s neighborhood.”

Babicz also liked to go trick or treating with her siblings. Her favorite part was stealing all of their candy when they had no idea.

“My siblings and I all sit down and trade candy.  They have no idea every year I just go in their room and take half of theirs when they’re asleep,” Babicz said.