What did you want to be when you were younger?

I wanted to be a veterinarian.

And what changed?

I decided I got queasy when I saw blood and I don’t like animals as much as I used to.

What were you for Halloween when you were at that age? What was your best costume?

Me and my dad used to dress up as Beauty and the Beast. He would be the Beast and I was Beauty. We did that for like three years. It was pretty awesome.

What are you being this year?

I think a cop and a mermaid.

Nice. How do you feel about black cats and, like, seeing them on Halloween? Do you believe in that kind of stuff?

I personally don’t. I believe that kind of stuff is all made up, kind of like myths, or whatever, not a lot of people do.

Do you have any superstitions?

Honestly, not really. A lot of people, like my roommates, will be scared to turn off the lights because they think there is like ghosts in the room and stuff when I’ll go turn it off, I don’t really care.

On the opposite end of that do you believe in good luck?

Yeah, I definitely do. Reciprocal, like if you do good things I think good things will happen too and vice versa. If you do bad things I think that karma will come around and get you.

So do you think everything in life happens for a reason?

Yeah, definitely.

How do you feel about the prophecy that the world is going to end in 2012? Do you think the world is ending?

No, I don’t, I think it’s a good thing for people to believe because people always need something to believe in and to be scared, but I think also that the Mayan calendar supposedly stops at the date in December. I think that’s just when the person died or stopped doing the calendar, maybe got lazy. I really don’t think that, that is going to happen. I’m hoping, crossing my fingers.

Do you have any good luck charms that you carry around or is there anyone in your life that just brings you luck all the time?

I actually don’t have any charms but I think my mom does, even though she’s not with me here. She always has good advice for me that makes me make good decisions and I think that brings luck upon me.

So mama knows best?

Yeah, even when I tell her she’s not right or “”Mom, you don’t know what you’re talking about,”” she ends up being right and I’m like, “”Shoot!”” She just knows.

— Caroline Nachazel