First-year psychology major Jini Pukhrambam was experiencing buyer’s remorse. She had recently purchased a Harley Quinn costume for Halloween, to match a friend who was planning to go as Poison Ivy.
“I don’t know if I’m excited,” Pukhrambam said. “Or if I’m regretting spending so much money.”
As students across the Ithaca College campus weigh similar dilemmas — is the pirate corset or Perry the Platypus penguin onesie worth it? — Pukhrambam’s Halloween planning involves an added layer of uncertainty. Pukhrambam, an international student from India, has never celebrated Halloween before.
Diana Dimitrova, the director of International Student and Scholar Services at IC, works with many students who, like Pukhrambam, are new to the holiday. With all the culture shocks that come with being an international student, Dimitrova said she hopes that Halloween can be a source of excitement rather than anxiety. Still, she said she knows that owning a costume can be difficult for international students. Purchasing costumes can be costly, and finding the space in a cramped dorm to store them for the rest of the year can be even more inconvenient.
“Especially for the new students who arrived with one suitcase, or one suitcase and a backpack, they probably did not bring costumes,” Dimitrova said. “That shouldn’t stop them from celebrating if that’s what they want.”
Each year, a few days before Halloween, Dimitrova helps organize an event to make participation in Halloween just a little bit more accessible. On Oct. 28, students were able to stop by the International Tea Center, snack on seasonal treats and sign out costumes from the collection to be returned by Nov. 7.
The costume collection itself, which fills about eight boxes, belongs to Brenda Wickes, assistant director of Student Accessibility Services. Before coming to IC, Wickes spent 20 years at Cornell University as the assistant dean for graduate student life where she often worked with international students and their families. As the families that she supported explored American customs like Halloween, they began to leave costumes they no longer wanted with Wickes. Over time, she developed a collection, which she brought with her when she switched over to IC. Eventually, Wickes and Dimitrova had the idea to start loaning costumes from the stash to international students.
The event is one of many hosted by the Office of International Student Programs, aimed at making international students feel at home. Much of the work of supporting international students comes down to building community — whether through their buddy program, a special orientation and welcome dinner, or events sponsored by the Ithaca College International Club.
The small international student population at IC, which, according to the Office of Analytics and Institutional Research, makes up less than 3% of the total student body, is close-knit but not insular. First-year student Ayush Sharma, an international student from India, said that though he often feels homesick, the tight community of international students has helped him settle in.
“I’ve made really good friends,” Sharma said. “And I think I’ve found a family away from my own family.”
Still, Sharma said the adjustment to life in the U.S. has been challenging. The morning of Diwali, a Hindu festival of lights, when he was mired in schoolwork and unable to properly celebrate, Sharma said he was so overwhelmed with sadness and frustration that he cried.
“I was like … ‘I can’t do this,’” Sharma said. “It’s Diwali, I’m away from home, I don’t know what to do, I can’t celebrate, I don’t have my parents, I can’t attend the pujas that we do, it’s a ritual in India [to honor the Goddess Laxmi].”
Sophomore Chiara Giannantonio, a film major from Italy, said that the IC international student experience is both isolating and exciting.
“Everyone is a local and you’re not, that’s how it feels,” Giannantonio said. “But I think that’s a more realistic experience of moving to another country. So in that sense, I appreciate it, because I feel like I actually moved to a new country and met people from the country rather than [staying] in a bubble.”
First-year student Aditya Valecha, who is originally from India, but who has spent the past two years living in New York City, said he has enjoyed the flood of new experiences.
“Personally, why I [came] to the States was to embrace this culture, to learn from these different environments and perspectives,” Valecha said. “Because if I just had [wanted] to learn about India, I would have done college in India.”
The experience of dressing up for carnivals is universal to many cultures around the world, and students like Valecha and Giannantonio had already been exposed to Halloween before coming to the U.S. Others have celebrated the holiday their whole lives, but are still adjusting to the version prevalent on college campuses.
Sophomore Melissa Hecker, an international student from Singapore, said they grew up celebrating a Halloween that was less extreme, but just as fun. They said they would like to see a better balance of Halloween activities for college students. They particularly miss trick-or-treating, a practice that does not tend to be normalized for college-age young adults in the U.S.
“Because it’s just children, I’m like, ‘Oh, so I’m not supposed to do that anymore,’” Hecker said. “I’m supposed to be doing party stuff, like all the other older kids are, and that’s what you’re supposed to do in America.”
Dimitrova said she understands that many students will enter college looking for a Halloween experience full of “big, loud parties” like the ones portrayed in movies such as “Mean Girls.” She said she hopes that events like the costume give-away will show students the range of experiences available — hot cider with friends, trick-or-treating on South Hill, carving pumpkins or wearing costumes all day long.
“Our goal is not to say, ‘Oh, only one way to do it, this is how it has to be,’” Dimitrova said. “But if dressing up is how they want to celebrate it, we just make it possible.”
Dimitrova said students borrowing costumes often send her photos of themselves celebrating the holiday. Dimitrova’s personal favorite is when students find small details from the costume collection to supplement elaborate visions already in process. Since the event began, she said she has seen her students transform into Frieda Kahlo, the Pixar lamp and nature goddesses from various cultures. This year, she will see them become Perry the Platypus (Sharma), a lazy vampire (Valecha) and Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction (Giannantonio).
“[Halloween is] very creative,” Valecha said. “It gives you a lot of freedom of expression to show off yourself and your personality.”
Sophomore international student Manan Maini said he has enjoyed exploring unfamiliar local traditions like Halloween, as well as traditions his friends have brought to IC from all over the world. He said his involvement with the Office of International Programs does not just help him stay connected to his own culture — it has introduced him to celebrations from around the globe.
“I’m eagerly waiting for more experiences which I will get, more friends which I will make,” Maini said. “So that I [can] get to know their favorite festivals, and how they enjoy that.”
Despite the highs and lows of their experiences, Puhkhrambam, Sharma, Giannantonio, Valecha, Hecker and Maini remain optimistic about this year’s Halloween. Whether it will be their first Halloween or their fifteenth, they are excited to join the festivities.
“It’s a Friday night,” Valecha said. “Have some fun.”
