Today is April Fools’ Day, the day to share laughs with friends and family. The Rider asked the campus community about the times they felt foolish.
According to thelibraryofcongress.org, historians believe that April Fools’ Day began in 1582 in France. At the time, France had switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar during the Council of Trent.
People who didn’t receive the notice of the change continued to celebrate the start of the new year on April 1 instead of on Jan. 1 and became the target of jokes and teasing, according to the website.
Other origins include “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” which tells the story of a rooster fooling a fox
on April 1.
Computer engineering junior Ovidio Serrato had been pranked by his brother on Halloween
when he was a child.
“One time … my brother was wearing the Michael Myers, Jason mask and he just came out of the closet and scared me,” Serrato said.
He said these less serious moments are fun and help us learn to be more aware of our surroundings.
Accounting junior Rafael De Anda’s family combined their efforts to play a joke on him.
“There was one time where I was asleep on the couch at my home and all my family was there gathered together,” De Anda said. “Suddenly, they start screaming and I woke up and started running without any reason. I was so scared, I didn’t even stop to see what was happening. I just got up and [ran].”
He said these moments of silliness are what make life exciting.
“They’re really important because without funny moments … life would be boring,” Anda said.
Nursing junior Fantasy Arenas and biology senior Deanna-Marie Gonzales have not been significantly pranked, but they both appreciate looking back on memories where the stress of life seemed to have paused.
