By Alyssa Kuntz

Halloween is a very popular time of year, but with kids and teens growing older many noticed they seem to become less festive, and they do not partake in the same activities as they used to.

Halloween is a time of year where kids usually go trick or treating. While trick or treating, kids dress up in any costume and walk around their neighborhood with friends or family. When they reach a house they all say “trick or treat” and then the neighbor gives them a piece of candy.

However, now, as children get older around ages 13, 14 or 15, they decide that they are too old to go trick or treating anymore. This is the case for many teens across the country.

“I stopped going trick or treating about two or three years ago,” sophomore Hassan Badat said.

On the other hand, some students still like to go trick or treating.

“This year I was a strawberry,” senior Audrey White said.

These students love receiving candy and hanging out with their friends as they trick or treat around many local developments. Trick or treating will never get old for them, and they always feel that there is no set age to quit such a fun festivity.

“I did not go trick or treating this year, but what I loved most about going in previous years, was hanging out with my friends,” sophomore Logan Winters said.

In today’s society, there has been a new attraction becoming very popular amongst teens: haunted houses. Instead of going trick or treating, many kids go to haunted houses where they seek the adrenaline rush and the thrill of being scared.

Another thing teens do instead of going trick or treating is just going to a party. The students may just go to someone’s house to hangout, or they might dress up in a costume and go to someone’s house for a halloween-themed party.

As trick or treating becomes less popular among older adolescents, it can either be a fun time out with friends, or cherished memories of the past. However, as everyone grows older, they still find different ways to celebrate this spooky holiday most Americans seem to love.

The word “necessity” often brings up the three basic needs of food, shelter and water in one’s mind, and from the word “luxury,” items can bounce from new shoes to a week-long vacation. When these two words are put together, thoughts of college begin floating around.

A necessity is something needed to survive and prosper. Normally, these are reachable for the average person. Luxuries are harder to grasp, and if it is something humans can live without, many people do not make it to them.

College is beginning to come hand and hand with living as humans are now born and raised to learn how to talk and walk, and then they are immediately sent into schools where they learn to socialize, and above all, they are told every decision they make will affect their future.

According to College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the last school year was $31,231 at private colleges, such as New York University, $9,139 for state residents at public colleges, such as Kent State University, and $22,958 for out-of-state residents attending public universities, such as the University of Miami.

Kent State University has their undergraduate tuition for Ohio residents on ksu.edu listed as $10,012 without room and board for the 2015-16 school year. If this price did not change for the next few years, it would end up costing a current student $40,048 for a four year education.

Looking plainly at the huge numbers strikes the topic of what else on which money could be spent.

According to charitywater.org, it costs about $20 to provide water to one person for 20 years. With the price of college at KSU for four years, over 2,000 people could receive clean water for those 20 years.

While providing water seems to be a really spaced-out example, there are many products that put the price of college in a new perspective.

College prices often shy students away from the experience. A minimum-wage job does not provide enough money for a student to pay his or her way through college.

When the $40,000 price is displayed, it scares students, especially when the price does not include living arrangements, meal plans, books and extra-curricular activities, such as sports equipment.

The prices of college has huge margins, and if they were lowered, so much money could be saved for students and their parents. As well as saving money, people would, in the end, experience less stress without having to worry about abundant student loans.

The price commitment acts as a leash for students, and that is no way to excel in college.