I know it’s October when the air has a subtle crispness, the shorter days are extended by jack-o-lantern light, I can smell pumpkin seeds roasting in the oven and “Hocus Pocus” is playing on repeat in my house. And I can’t forget my favorite part of the month–Halloween.

But since entering high school, Halloween fun isn’t possible when the holiday falls on a weekday. As a high school junior, I sometimes feel like I have more responsibilities than a pumpkin has seeds. Therefore, Halloween should be on the last Saturday of October, not the 31st.

Some argue that Halloween has become too commercialized in America, but the memories that this holiday season creates can’t be bought in a store. I remember making costumes with my younger siblings, decorating our front yard with spooky characters and picking out the best pumpkin for carving.

Halloween itself was always magical. I would walk with my siblings from house to house, trying to fill our buckets with as many goodies as possible. After trick-or-treating, we would trade candy with each other. Halloween wasn’t just about sugar or money; it represented family.

But now that I’m in high school, Halloween isn’t practical anymore. Halloween is Tuesday, Oct. 31 this year. While I used to come home and rush through my multiplication tables so I could stuff my face with candy, now the grind of being a junior is a soul-crushing burden to my sugar intake.

To many, Halloween’s specific date is symbolic as it came to be through the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain and was later developed into All Saints Day. But the holiday does not carry as much historical significance as it used to. We should adapt Halloween to better meet the needs of people in the 21st century.

I will watch my little siblings leave the house to trick-or-treat without me this Halloween, as I did last year. I’ll eat a piece of chocolate or two, finish my schoolwork and go to bed.

If Halloween was on the last Saturday of October, I wouldn’t be sitting at home doing my math homework. I would be with my siblings making the same memories for them that I remember so fondly from my childhood.