By Chloe Schaeffer ’21
Once the first day of October rolled around, the cumulative mood of the world began to shift; fall had unofficially started. That means pumpkins, pie, haunted houses, turkey, skeletons, ghosts, candy, apples, leaves, spiders and scary movies. Now that Thanksgiving and Halloween have passed, 385 respondents reflected on how they spent their fall holidays in an online survey sent to the Middle School. First, students picked out and carved the perfect Jack-O’Lantern.
“Every year we go to the Tapia Bros. Farm and buy pumpkins there. Then, we carve out the pumpkins and make pumpkin pie with the insides and carve faces into the pumpkin,” Fiona Shaw ’23 said in the survey.
Fall was also the season of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, a drink from Starbucks that has caused some controversy. But when students love pumpkin spice, they swear by it.
“[During fall], I spend time with my family and friends, eating pumpkin spice everything!” an anonymous eighth grade student respondent said.
Some students scrambled to put together a last minute costume on Oct. 30, and others had been planning an extensive group costume for months.  On the night of the 31st, candy wrappers littered the sidewalk and kids in Batman costumes dart from house to house. The race was on to see who returned with the heaviest bag of treats.
“When it gets dark, my friends and I run off and try to get as much candy as possible in two hours. Then, we come back and trade with each other while playing video games and watching movies,” Will Farhat ’21 said in the survey.
This year, Halloween was unique because it coincided with Game 6 of the World Series. 5% of the respondents said they chose to stay home instead of Trick-or-Treating because of the World Series or other sporting events like hockey or basketball.
Students said that the highlights of Halloween are the candy that they got while Trick-or-Treating, as well as time that they got to spend with friends or at parties. 27% of respondents said that candy was the best part of Halloween, and 36% said that parties/socializing with friends was the highlight.
Then came Thanksgiving, a time for everyone to take a step back and think of all the things we have to be grateful for. Often, traditions that can last forever are formed, and new traditions are started.
“My family and I all go around the table and say what we are thankful for every Thanksgiving,” Keira Cook ’22 responded to the survey.
Although some students appreciated the holiday, some students don’t agree with the historical significance. An anonymous student (class of ’23) says,
“I like that holiday of Thanksgiving, but I don’t like the lies we are told about the colonists and Native Americans.”
Some students attended sporting events of their own this Thanksgiving, like Varsity Cross Country runner Harper Hollander ’21.
“Every Thanksgiving, I drove to watch my brother Nate run at the State Cross Country meet in Fresno. It’s really fun, but the drive feels like forever. Thankfully (pun intended) it will be my turn to continue the tradition this year!” Hollander said.
This time of year brought everything from wonderful traditions, memories, tastes and smells, things that scare, a time for friends and family and an endless sweet tooth to usher in the holiday season.