Every year, the Plant Pathology and Microbiology Department hosts a Halloween costume and chili contest. This, being my first year, was also my first time experiencing that tradition. Originally, I was not planning on attending; Halloween is just not my holiday (save for dressing my rabbit up, as seen in the picture), and chili is not my food. But as soon as I mentioned that, it was rather pressed upon me the importance of showing up to keep traditions through the generations. With that fair point, I grabbed my Star Trek communicator badge, and with my makeshift costume of a red dress and black boots (they really dressed women up as stewardesses in the original series, didn’t they?), I went to the party held at my professor’s house.

 Some of the costumes were very clever. One of the professors came as a Western Blot, dressed in a cowboy outfit with black lines drawn on his jeans to represent the bands one would see when blotting. Someone else was a fruit ninja with real fruit taped over his ninja outfit. Funnily enough, someone else came dressed for Star Trek, though ours were different eras. The couples costumes were also fun to see, from the traditional Gomez and Morticia Addams to Miss Frizzle and the Magic School Bus.

The chili contest was divided so that various people could win awards (best vegetarian, hottest, etc). I didn’t eat any of it (I stuck to the desserts), but it did all smell good. Although every winner got a plaque to add their name to, it was clear the most coveted was ‘hottest,’ as the winner was given the crown of victory: a hat in the shape of a volcano. Did it go with his costume? No. Did he wear it the rest of the night? Yes.

While I did not partake in any of the chili-eating or making portions of the contest, it was still good to be there interacting with everyone, keeping the traditions alive. Truthfully, it was slightly weird intermingling with professors I would typically only associate with work, but throughout talking to them at the party it was clear that by joining this department I was joining a family, and family sees each other outside of work on occasion.

I would say that is why something as ‘silly’ as a costume-contest-chili-party has so much weight and importance, and why it was pressed for me to go. It wasn’t about the superficial aspects, it was about getting to know everyone in the department better, both the fourth- and fifth-years and the professors. We are a community and a family. Eventually we will leave, professors retire, students graduate (hopefully), but the connections forged at these will live on. 

– Cara Deromedi

Cara is a doctoral student in the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology.