Student Snapshot: Halloween

Victoria Raha Sigaroudi was born and raised in Sweden and is currently in her 6th semester studying medicine at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU). She attended English language schools between the ages of 6 and 18. Victoria founded the RSU US Student Association together with two of her friends during her first semester and is now the society’s President.

Diana Greiner was born in Chicago and has lived in the United States for most of her life. She is in her third semester studying medicine at RSU. She lived in Germany and the UK as a child, but moved to Chicago at 6 and has lived there for the past 15 years. She became the Vice President of the US association in the spring semester of 2021.

Tell me about the influence that American culture had on you growing up.

Victoria: I'm not American but I've always had a special relationship with the US as we used to travel back and forth growing up. I even celebrated my first birthday in a McDonalds in the middle of Eau Claire, Wisconsin where my dad's side of the family lives.

Diana: Growing up in the US, I naturally celebrated many US holidays and my first Christmas and birthday were spent there. As my parents had immigrated from Germany, we also mixed German traditions into our holiday celebrations, but I got to see American traditions in school or at friends' homes. Since the US is such a melting pot, many families have their own traditions that have been passed down through the generations, or that have blended with American traditions. 

How did you celebrate Halloween?

Diana: Halloween has always been one of my favourite times of year. We would carve pumpkins together with my family and set them out on the doorstep. The houses in my neighbourhood would be decorated with skeletons, gravestones, witches, etc. so it was fun to walk around and see what everyone had done. We would dress up at school and do a little parade around the block where all the adults would be dressed up too and give us candy. The school would be covered in decorations and we would paint pumpkins in art class. It was a lot of fun. Then we would go trick-or-treating at night and come home with pillowcases full of candy. All the kids knew where to go for the best candy and treats!

How would you dress up? Do you remember any costumes?

Victoria: Dressing up was really fun. We would trick or treat at school, because it's not a Swedish custom. I remember dressing up as an angel once. I was shy as a child and didn't want to stand out, so I wanted to be a bit more inconspicuous about it. I never wanted to do any scary outfits! 

My grandmother hand-made the Jasmine dress from Aladdin for me one year! It was definitely one of my most memorable costumes and I received a lot of compliments. Halloween was definitely the one time of the year that I felt like I could express myself. Even though I was a little more shy, it allowed me to have fun for a day and be whomever I wanted to be.

Diana with her class at Halloween. Diana on the far right in the first row

Diana: I've worn a lot of different costumes over the years. When we were babies, me and my siblings all wore this ladybug costume that my mom had found. It was really cute! I remember being a vampire in 1st and 2nd grade, the Pirate Queen from Pirates of the Caribbean (a specific Keira Knightley costume), a witch in middle school, a goddess, etc. We also dressed up in high school and a lot of friend groups coordinated their costumes. I remember being Poison Ivy from Batman when my friends did a superhero/super-villain group. A few years before, my friends and I chose a 1920s theme and I dressed as a flapper.

Coming up

• Online Thanksgiving cook-along: Participants can prepare a traditional Thanksgiving meal together with members of the US Student Association. Recipe and list of ingredients will be shared beforehand.
• Christmas movie night: Movie yet to be announced.
• Game night: First Thursday of every month.
• Path to Residency: A  residency student from the US will share their experience with getting into the US, step scores and some tips and tricks on what to think about when applying.

Contact the US Student Association here.