Trick or treat: CWRU community members share childhood Halloween costumes

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Today, Case Western Reserve University students will indulge in a childhood favorite activity: trick-or-treating on Halloween. The CWRU Candy Crawl is sure to bring back memories of dressing up in costumes—from witches to cats to superheroes and more—as they make their way across campus to visit participating offices.

In the spirit of reminiscing, we invited members of the CWRU community to share photos of Halloweens past to see if their childhood costumes somehow predicted what their future studies and careers would entail.

Looking to get further into the spooky spirit? Learn more about Halloween’s origins, and check out some Halloween-themed content recommended by CWRU professors last year.

Answers have been lightly edited.

Andrew Kapferer

First-year undergraduate student, nursing major

Photo collage of two images of Andrew Kapferer, one as a toddler dressed as a nurse and another more recently

“This photo from 2009 shows me dressed up as a nurse at age 3. Now, I’m a nursing major!” 

Evan Meszaros

Research Services Librarian 

Photo collage of two images of Evan Meszaros, one as a child dressed as Gandalf and another more recently

“This is me at age 7 in 1992 dressed up as Gandalf, the wizard from Lord of the Rings. This was long before the Peter Jackson films were made—proof of my love of books that led me to my current career!” 

Aliaksandra Turchak

First-year undergraduate student, theater major

Photo collage of two images of Aliaksandra Turchak, one as a teenager dressed as a puppet and another more recently

“In this picture from 2017, I was 11 years old and dressed up as a puppet. Even though I didn’t realize it at that time, theater inspired and fascinated me since a very young age, and I liked the idea of making my costume feel interactive, like pretending to move and act like a puppet throughout the night. And now I’m a theater major!”

Cami Ross

Assistant Director of Study Abroad 

Photo collage of two images of Cami Ross, one dressed as a child dressed as Rainbow Brite and another more recently

“This is me at age 6 in the ‘80s dressed up as Rainbow Brite; my mom made my costume! Now, I help students explore a rainbow of possibilities for studying abroad in college.” 

Regan Manning

Undergraduate student, sociology major  

Photo collage of two images of Regan Manning, one as a baby dressed as a sunflower and another more recently

“I was a sunflower! I think this was the only costume my parents could successfully get me into.

This was in 2004 at my first Halloween and I was 2 months old. Today, I still love dressing up in costumes and making them, too—I am one of the costume designers for the student group Footlighters!”

Kelly Burns

LEAP Program Manager, Case School of Engineering

Photo collage of two images of Kelly Burns, one as a child with her cousin dressed as Minnie and Mickey Mouse and another more recently

“My cousin, Robby, and I dressed up as Mickey and Minnie Mouse in 1987 because wanted to go to Disney World. Today, I help international students from India in our hybrid computer science program achieve their dreams of going wherever they want in the world—never stop dreaming!”

Haddy Dardir

Undergraduate student in psychology

Photo collage of two images of Haddy Dardir, one as a child dressed as Captain Toad and a more recent image

“This photo was taken in 2015; I was 12 years old at the time and dressed up as Captain Toad from the Super Mario Universe. I was inspired by the puzzle game ‘Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker’ that I used to play on my Wii U and Captain Toad’s levels in the Mario game ‘Super Mario 3D World.’ I enjoyed playing these games, and I also wanted to be something original for Halloween. I thought Captain Toad would be a good option because it would be a relatively easy D.I.Y. costume that just required a safari shirt, safari pants, a headlight, and a toad hat from Spirit Halloween.”