Houda Maaroufi, a postdoctoral researcher in the Smith Lab, sparked a festive idea this October: decorate the lab for Halloween and encourage everyone to wear costumes to celebrate the holiday. Houda teamed up with David Hall, Mac Thackery, and Marisa Guido, and they spent the month of October creating decorations. With so many new faces in the lab and at Iowa State, it felt like the perfect way to break the ice and build some new friendships!
Almost every member of the Smith Lab dressed up in costume for Halloween, but the real surprise was the decorations. They went all out: cardboard gravestones with lab members' names, plastic bats and spiders, and spider webs made from beef netting strung in the corners. They even covered the windows with cardboard to create a darker atmosphere and resemble boarded-over windows.
On Halloween day, spooky sound effects echoed throughout the lab, setting the perfect mood. Everyone brought food to share and celebrated together. There was laughter, snacks, and even a bit of research done in full costume! It was a day of science and spookiness that served as a reminder that sometimes the best experiments are the ones that bring people together.
