Shriram Navale

Having just been announced the winners of the group costume contest, seniors Fatima Zahra and Rimena Gebrehiwot run up to the amphitheater to claim their prize. “You just need some basics to put together in the right way,” Zahra said. “I think [our costume] came out good.”

On Oct. 31, the Student Government Association (SGA) hosted its third annual Costume Contest in Nobel Courtyard. There were four categories: scariest, best overall, best DIY and best group. 

Having scrapped their previous idea of being characters from “The Simpsons,” seniors Fatima Zahra and Rimena Gebrehiwot needed a new idea for their group costume for the contest.

“We saw TikToks of T-Bo from ‘iCarly’ and we thought it was hilarious,” senior Rimena Gebrehiwot said. “We were originally planning to be the Simpsons, but we couldn’t find the costumes, so we spent three hours searching stores for an orange shirt [instead].”

T-Bo is a character from the show “iCarly” who sells different foods on sticks. He wears an orange shirt, a purple bandana and cargo shorts.

“We couldn’t find cargo shorts so we went around to three different stores,” Zahra said. “Rimena tried on some shorts at Ross and we were planning on buying them, but it turned out that Ross wasn’t selling those shorts and it was actually [the shorts of] somebody who just left [it].” 

In the end, Gebrehiwot used her brother’s cargo shorts instead.

“We had to find some shorts at home and try to match it as close as possible [to the character],” Gebrehiwot said. “It came out pretty good.”

Despite facing these challenges, Gebrehiwot and Zahra still managed to come up with costumes to wear to the contest. Persistence was a trait that Gebrehiwot and Zahra both shared while formulating their costumes.

“We were shopping for three hours; our legs were tired,” Gebrehiwot said. “We did not give up [and] I think we look very put together. Even if you don’t know what show we’re from, you can tell that it’s a costume, especially with the steak and bagels. [They] definitely add a lot of character to the costume.”

Even with a relatively simple costume, Gebrehiwot and Zahra embodied the essence and spirit of Halloween such as fun, excitement and spending time with peers. 

“I think, to me, the celebration is just dressing up with my friends and having fun,” Zahra said. “You only need some basics to put [the costume]  together in the right way; the joy of having people guess [the costume] is pretty great.”