April Fool’s Day is typically a day filled with pranks, laughter and fun.

Celebrated annually there are plenty of theories for how the holiday was started but no one knows for sure when the day was truly first celebrated.

Students at Eastern are often too busy to partake in the holiday but some shared their experiences and thoughts on the holiday.

Charlie Dumach, a junior music major, said she does not enjoy it as much as she used to.

“I think it’s kind of dumb but as a kid I thought it was funny to mess with my sisters,” Dumach said.

She shared a prank she pulled on her siblings when she was younger.

“Once I used walkie talkies to make them think our house has ghosts, put one on top of the ceiling fan and took the other into a closet to talk to it,” Dumach said.

Now, Dumach says she is typically too busy on April 1 to participate, but she still has pet peeves for the holiday, like when people take it too far and they intentionally really hurt or scare people.

One example she remembers from high school is putting Nair in people’s shampoo to make their hair fall out. 

Kenzie Funk, a science education major, said she enjoys pranks and having a fun time but she believes it can get taken too far quickly.

One thing she specifically does not like is “joking about things that aren’t meant to be joked about like mental illness, cheating or fake coming out.”

Another thing she shared she does not like is “anything that hurts the other person of puts down a group of people or pranks that cause actual bodily harm.”

However, she said she enjoys pranks like parents acting like they’re dropping their kids off at school but actually taking their children to Disney.

She said those pranks are “so pure, so wholesome.”

Funk added she enjoys reading about harmless pranks and she’s not a “stick in the mud.”

Kayla Granat, a junior English education major, agreed with Dumach and Funk: it is all fun and games until someone takes the prank too far.

“I think it’s fun when it’s not taken too far. The smaller jokes are the funniest especially when celebrities or famous companies get involved,” Granat said. “A game I play did this thing where they redesigned their whole app as if it was created on Microsoft Paint and it makes me giggle every time I open the app.”

She said she dislikes pranks where people pretend to come out or fake pregnancy announcements.

Granat said she feels “awkward thinking about doing them, that’s not my personality” when it comes to planning pranks herself.

Overall she said pranks can be fun when done correctly.

“It may feel embarrassing being tricked but it’s all in good heart,” Granat said. “One year my parents rearranged my siblings’ rooms so that it was like were in each other’s rooms and the confusion was funny.”

Elaina Nelson, a senior music performance major, said her goal on April Fool’s Day is “to make sure I make someone laugh throughout the day.”

She said pranking can be fun for all when done well.

“I feel like pranking could go both ways,” Nelson said. “As long as you mean well and make someone happy with pranking and not hurt anyone’s feelings, the day was fulfilled.”

She said the best way to tell if it is a good time to prank someone is to be aware of your surroundings.

“Make sure that you are courteous to everyone on this day,” Nelson said. “Some people might take offense to prankings so just make sure you are reading the room.”

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].