This weekend, I walked alongside princesses, dinosaurs, hippies and lifeguards. I high-fived Arnold from the Nickelodeon show; I saw a jolly green giant, a bull rider and a human Twister board. And I loved every minute of it.

Halloween is one of the most enjoyable holidays for people of any age -- it's a time we can dress up, pretend to be whomever -- or whatever -- we want to be, and laugh at each other's outfits.

But there's a distinct line between being funny and being offensive.

My fellow upperclassmen likely remember the outrage most of us felt on Halloween in 2007.

That Halloween -- a mere six months after my friend Mary was shot and killed in the Virginia Tech massacre -- some Penn State students thought it was acceptable to dress up as victims of the shooting for Halloween. They wore Virginia Tech T-shirts covered with bullet holes and fake blood.

I was mortified, hurt and embarrassed. How could I possibly call these ignorant students my classmates?

The image of those costumes is burned in my memory forever.

That's why I was pleased to see an advertisement in the Collegian on Thursday from greek community leaders asking students to "take a minute to think about what kind of response the costume may elicit from others, and make a responsible decision as to whether the costume is appropriate."

The ad, which was directed at the entire Penn State community, was a great way to make students re-think their costumes and check if they may or may not be offensive. Though the greek leaders can't ensure that students will not wear offensive costumes, the ad was a brave first step.

But it's not only costume-wearers who need to re-think their ideas of what's humorous and what's offensive. This year, Forum Novelties introduced an "illegal alien" costume, containing an extraterrestrial body wearing orange prison clothing and carrying a green card. Another version of the costume -- drawing off racial stereotypes -- featured a baseball cap and a mustache.

While some may find the costume funny, others felt it was demeaning and hurtful.

Sure, timely costumes can be funny. But are they funny when the inspiration is an isolated group of people who are being -- no pun intended -- alienated? Where can we draw the line between clever and hurtful?

It all comes down to putting ourselves in others' shoes. The students who dressed as Virginia Tech victims should have put themselves in my shoes. They should have put themselves in the shoes of the friends and parents of the victims.

That same 2007 Halloween here in State College featured many other offensive costumes; one student dressed as a KKK member. A group of Caucasian girls painted their faces black, had pillows under their shirts to make them appear pregnant, and carried fake guns.

Of course, Halloween is a time for people to push the limits of what's acceptable. Some people will be offended by things that don't offend others whatsoever. But in other cases, such as those mentioned above, it is clear that the costumes were in bad taste.

Halloween is a time to be original and enjoy others' costumes. I spent most of the weekend laughing at clever and original costumes around town.

I'm willing to bet that many of you had fun this weekend dressing up and admiring others' costumes. Remember this feeling in years to come, and not only regarding costumes or Halloween.

Think about the reactions your words or actions may draw from others. It's not clear where the line should be drawn regarding what's offensive and what's not, but it all comes down to basic common sense. Your costume, your words and your jokes may be hilarious to you, but others may feel hurt or attacked. Keep these people in mind.