Student carve time in to celebrate Halloween between classes

The buttery smell of freshly popped popcorn and hot apple cider filled the air with the spooky sounds of Halloween-themed songs and frequent peals of laughter Monday afternoon as students carved pumpkins for Fright Week.

Fright Week is a week-long event hosted by the South Austin Campus (SAC) Student Activity Advisory Board (SAAB) to celebrate Halloween.

Sarah Grover, SAAB Community Service Director for SAC, explained that Fright Week is the product of SAAB's Student Life Advisor April Seabourn's love of Halloween.

"Every year she always tries to do a really big Halloween event at the campus she's working at," Grover said.

Events like Fright Week are usually the domain of the Director of Entertainment, however SAAB does not have someone to fill that position currently, according to Grover.

With that position currently unstaffed at South Austin Campus, though, SAAB staff members pitched in to help Seabourn plan the festivities.

Students Malcembea Reyes and James Hemen selected pumpkins to carve Monday morning, admitting they were big fans of Halloween. Both, however, had their own individual take on Student Life events like Fright Week.

"It gets you away from academics," Reyes said, a nursing student at ACC. "It gets me away from being stressed out with math, or any other classes that I'm taking."

Hemen had a different perspective, "I think that something like this is good for bringing people closer together."

Fright Week continues Tuesday with Treats Not Tricks Bingo, in which contestants get a chance to win prizes like iTunes gift cards, a costume contest on Wednesday, and wraps up Thursday with a Creepy Cupcake Party where students can decorate their own cupcakes.

Rebecca Thomas, SAAB Chair for the South Austin Campus, manned the booth Monday and was optimistic about student participation.

"We're looking to get 30 pumpkins carved and get people out here to have some fun," Thomas said. SAAB expects between 25 and 50 students to dress in costume for Wednesday's costume contest, according to Thomas.

"We're excited," Thomas said who is looking forward to the event.

Fright Week continues Oct. 25 and runs through Oct. 27. Events begin at 11 a.m. in the courtyard between the main building and the parking garage and end at 3 p.m. each day.