The scariest thing about Halloween is not ghosts or goblins but commercialism and the capitalist influence that infringes on this holiday.

There was a time when the main concern on a parent's mind was the candy their kids collected from strangers. The only kind of questions that parents typically asked themselves, were, "Is it poisoned? Does it have razor blades inside?" but now they're not asking those questions as much.

Instead of worrying if the candy is safe to eat, parents now worry about costumes, pumpkin carving and whatever else costs money.

Kids usually don't want to stand out, but on Halloween they do. The companies that profit from this holiday want to make you think, "How would it look if your kid or younger sibling went to school with a homemade costume? Or even worse without a costume at all! They would be laughed at or made fun of!"

So what's a parent to do? Fall into the commercial trap and shell out big bucks of course!

Has anyone noticed how much costumes cost? Usually they start out at $25.00 and that doesn't include facial paint ($5-10) and body glitter ($5-7). Let's not forget the extra ornaments that can also range from ($5-10). I mean you can't be a devil without a staff, or a vampire without fangs. Then you have to think about the candy you have to buy for the trick-or-treaters and the pumpkins with a carver set.

Now if you're a bargain hunter, you might slide by this holiday only spending a measly $50.00. But that's if you're a bargain hunter.

Most people wait until the last minute and buy whatever is left. Usually the price has skyrocketed by then.

This all seems a little too much. I mean parents shouldn't be buying costumes, they should be spending some quality time with their kids making one. Not only is this old-fashion way of getting ready for Halloween cost-efficient, but it's an excuse to bring out the kid in you and bond with your child or younger brother or sister.

If you're worried that your child would get upset because they want to be a power ranger, make a couple suggestions until they're satisfied. You can convince them that being a cartoon character or an action figure is so passe. You would say, "Honey that's what all the other kids are going as. Do you really want to be boring and be like everyone else?"

If you phrase it that way, I guarantee your young one would look at things differently.

And like I said, kids usually want to be like everyone else, except for Halloween. It's important to encourage individuality, especially at a young age.

So don't do what everyone else is doing and spend a lot of money on a costume. Use your imagination; be creative and scare off the companies that try to rob you blind.

"To thine own self be true." ~ William Shakespeare

I thought that my high school graduation signified the end of peer pressure, but it didn't. Although college is arguably not like high school, this campus still breeds sheep.

In high school the stakes were higher. If you didn't go out and party with the "cool kids" then you would be considered a loser, or someone that the popular kids would only talk to when no one else was around. It's safe to say that it was much harder to redeem yourself or change your approach in high school because everyone basically knew everyone.

Of course that's not the case in college. Having a 5-figure student enrollment guarantees that this is a place where everybody doesn't know everybody's name. The only people that know you are the ones in your personal network of friends. And that's where the peer pressure starts.

During my freshmen year I wanted to get the full effect of college life. And I did with an average of two parties a week. But it wasn't long before I found out that the whole party scene was boring. My friends however disagreed with me and insisted that I go along with them. After much pleading, I relented and tagged along just so I didn't have to deal with my friends giving me a hard time.

Now no matter where I went and who was there, I found myself in this constant cumbersome situation. I was being forced to socialize with people I didn't care to know. I didn't hide how I felt at these parties. It got to the point that I would bring a book and start reading it to show that I'd rather not be there. Then again, I didn't have to be at any party in the first place. So why was I?

Peer pressure. I loved my friends dearly and would have done anything for them. Enduring loud music and drunken guys hitting on me all the time was proof of that. Then the wheels started to turn in my head. If my friends loved me, then they wouldn't constantly beg me to do things that I seriously did not want to do.

I confronted them on this and it took them awhile to let my opinion register into their heads. After a few arguments here and there, they ultimately respected my decision.

I still get the occasional call to go out and party, but it's okay because now I don't feel pressured to go anymore. But, I probably would feel pressured if I didn't speak up and tell my peers what I thought of their precious parties.

Someone wonderful once said, "Experience is the hardest teacher, for she gives you the test first and the lesson afterwards." How true that is, my sweet and dear fellow students, how true.

Most of us will look back in reflection of our years at college and not necessarily remember random facts in the never-ending lectures that dominate our expensive time in the classroom, but instead we'll remember the people and experiences that challenged us to become stronger, wiser and sexier.

If there was ever a time and place that would help you develop character and individuality, that time is here and now in college. And it?s extremely crucial that we focus on the events that happen to us outside the classroom because that's where we learn most of our lessons in life.

If you look around on campus you'll see that most students make the mistake by only swimming in their social fishbowl. How can you be considered worldly if you?ve only been exposed to the ideas of the people who usually agree with you or if you only hang out with people who you have a lot in common with?

The answer is you can?t because you're sheltered into believing a certain way without being forced to look at the other side of things. You?re not going to survive in the real world if you lack the ability to try to understand where other people are coming from.Students cannot become great if they've only had wonderful things happen to them. To truly value something or someone, you must go through hell to get it first; otherwise you'll take it for granted.

If you?ve been recently rejected, dumped or screwed over by the object of your desire, embrace it and use that horrid experience to your advantage. As you're going through that box of Kleenex or punching a pillow over someone who is unworthy of you, remember how awful you feel now so when you do meet the right person, you?ll hold him or her tighter and be even more grateful that you didn't settle for what?s-their-name.

Another important area of your life that is detrimental in helping you become an all around incredible person is the kind of courses you take.

You ever notice that the classes that leave an imprint on your mind are the ones that you didn't get an easy A+ in? There's a reason for that and it's based solely on pure frustration and time consumption. Believe it or not you're in the middle of something great if you leave class thinking, "God I hate this freaking class!"

Unless your professor is a stubborn ingrate, you better count your blessings that you're in a class that dares you to learn something beyond your comprehension. Seriously who can be proud to survive a class that was easy? A stupid and lazy person, that's who!

Despite the typical stereotype that tries to define college, this university is more then a whirlwind of Greek parties, football games and binge drinking. Although those are the social activities that are synonymous with college life, let?s focus on the fact that college is really a place where people exchange ideas, dispute opinions and share knowingly glances across the room. Besides it's these kinds of experiences that we?ll someday muse over and tell our children about.

The priceless knowledge we obtain from college will no doubt contribute to how we look and interact with life outside this campus. And it's not only what happens to us that are necessarily important, but it's how we react to such situations that exemplify what kind of person we are.

I don?t know about you but I'm not paying thousands of dollars a year to become somebody who can't look at herself in the mirror.

So students I implore you to savor the moments here, because before you know it they'll be gone and then so will you.

Georgette Todd is a Journalism Major and can be contacted by mail at the State Hornet, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819, or b email at [email protected].