By Kaitlyn Oliveros, Nov. 8, 2022
The Maker Studio hosted a Halloween costume contest on Oct. 31, giving students the opportunity to show off the costumes they designed.
With Halloween costumes going up in price every year, the Maker Studio opened their doors to students interested in designing their own costumes rather than buying them from a Halloween store.
Benjamin Villa, an electrical engineering student who dressed as the CLA building, talked about what brought him to the event.
“I just love building things and making things here at the Maker Studio,” said Villa. “Making costumes is one of the most fun things I could do.”
As for the inspiration behind his costume, Villa talked about his love for the CLA building that has now been demolished.
“Every time I passed by it growing up, I always liked the building, and that’s partially what made me want to go to Cal Poly,” said Villa. “After they tore it down, I was like ‘I need to pay tribute to this great building.’”
Jesus Bermudez, the coordinator of this event, shared that this event started off as a small hang out at the Maker Studio back in 2019. He then turned the hang out into a friendly contest.
“The Maker Studio is run by ambassadors, and they just wanted to dress up,” said Bermudez. “As a result of that, we decided to open it to everybody. It started off as something just for fun to an event where everyone can join.”
Bermudez said that this year was the first time the event included a costume contest. Three winners would be selected, but the main goal was to have fun and see everyone’s costumes.
“A lot of people have been working on their costumes for a month,” said Bermudez. “I’m excited to see what they’ve created. We have sewing machines and embroidery machines, so a lot of students have been working on their costumes here. I’m curious to see how they turned out.”
Bermudez said the Maker Studio is all about hands-on activities. He hopes students can see that they can create their own costumes rather than buy them.
Students who wanted to take part in the costume contest had to sign up with their costume name and a song they’d like to walk to. Once the costume contest started, everyone participating walked down the runway and posed, showing off their amazing costumes. Those who didn’t participate in the contest became judges. Three students won the costume contest. Among the three winners, one of them was dressed as a ghostbuster and another was dressed as a maid. Since it was a friendly competition, there was no prize. Afterward, a group photo was taken of everyone who dressed up.
Helen Chu, a mechanical engineering student, shared her favorite part of the event.
“Honestly, the costumes were my favorite part,” said Chu. “Also seeing how into it everyone was at the contest. It’s really fun.”
Chu dressed up as GoGo Tomago from Disney’s “Big Hero Six.” She signed up for the costume contest and said it was fun seeing everyone show off the costumes they created.
The Maker Studio is located on the second floor of the library. Students interested can stop by for a visit. For more events at the Maker Studio, visit myBAR.
Feature image by Kaitlyn Oliveros