Around the corner and to your right, if you keep driving past Target and Best Buy, there are many large trees and houses. Then, if you make a left turn you’ll find the entrance to the Woodneath Library Center on Flintlock Road.

This is a beautiful library that is part renovated historic home and part modern library building. Woodneath has a huge field with a walking trail, a drive-thru for books and a high-tech belt for book returns.

Inside of this library can be found polished wooden floors, glass cabinets and a setup that is much like the one in the PLC. There’s a computer hub at the front of the room for everyone who wants to work on a device. The bookshelves are in the back portion of the library just after the computer hub. To the right, hidden in the back corner is the kids area. And, yes the kids have their own devices to play on and a plethora of children’s books.

In the back left part of Woodneath is the teen section. They have summer, winter, fall and – you guessed it – spring reading competitions for teens. Whenever a teen finishes a reading list, they get a free book.

There are snazzier prizes for completing the adult reading competitions – such as mugs.

The parts of this library that I really appreciate are the tours they give of the historical slave plantation home, the book creator machine and the special visits authors make. The historical slave plantation home is refurbished and maintained to a certain degree and is really cool to explore if you like American history. It is a very large and expensive home, and it’s not very hard to imagine how beautiful it used to be.

Woodneath also has a machine that allows you to create a physical copy or copies of any books, novels or novellas you’ve written. It does cost money, but the machine is really awesome to look at if you’re at all into gadgets – and getting a book made is still a reasonable price.

Prominent and famous authors sometimes come  to the library to discuss their latest novels, answer questions or sign the audience’s copies of books. If you keep an eye on their website, the library posts the next author that will visit.

The last author that graced Woodneath’s presence was Gillian Flynn a couple of years ago. Do make sure that if you find out a famous author will be there that you RSVP ahead of time on their website.

Haunt is a place where monsters, ghouls, ghosts and many other creatures walk around Worlds of Fun while you’re enjoying the park. They hide all over and jump out to scare you. Sometimes, they’ll start to follow you without notice, which I found the scariest.

If you’re in a group, the actor may jump out to scare you, thereby missing the opportunity to scare the others in the group. I really appreciated that the haunted house was confusing to navigate and that it was kind of like a maze. My group kept bumping into another group that was also trying to figure out how to get out of the house. The best part was the jump scares provided by the actors, which were really great when it was timed correctly.

How scared you were really depended on how much the actors got into their role. For instance, there was a swamp creature whose costume was made with such care that you couldn’t tell if a human or a robot was underneath the fabric.

The Halloween Haunt at Worlds of Fun is a truly fun experience. The tickets are discounted–one can be as low as 38 dollars. Haunt starts after 6 p.m. and anyone 14 years of age or older can come.

Another character I found charming and scary was the person with the Jason mask, who was silent the entire time. The character would simply follow people and then turn on an extremely loud chainsaw when close.

I found Jason amusing enough until he touched my back with the chainsaw. Luckily, they remove the blade when they use the chainsaw to scare people.

Despite the exhilarating thrills, it isn’t as fun to ride the rides during Haunt because it’s dark. If you love the view the rides give you, I don’t recommend going to Haunt. However it is scarier getting on rides in the dark because they’re going quite fast and you can’t see anything.

I do recommend going on the Mamba at night. The Mamba is the tallest roller coaster at Worlds of Fun and you can see all the way to downtown Kansas City during the day.

The Mamba will take you up very high to where all you can see is darkness at night. The first drop is the scariest because it’s like free-falling and after you get over the initial fear of the drop there is an exhilarating high and all you can do is laugh and smile.

It feels like you’ve been falling for forever, but it’s been only minutes. You hear screams all around you and realize that this is what Halloween is supposed to be.

Cover photo courtesy of Worlds of Fun. 

Personally, I am mistaken for other African-American women constantly. This happened in my last high school where I was often referred to as Deborah, a person many people said I spoke and acted like. This same scenario is existing for me on the campus of William Jewell College. It is the action of lumping all minorities of a certain race together, as if individually we are not important enough to be recognized as having unique identities. It is ignoring the fact that we are more than just the color of our skins, our eyes or our distinct voices. Those are merely parts of the cover of an unopened book. People often attempt to rely on the saying that “We all look the same!” There is a reason for that.

Minorities are often said to look the same because minorities are seen a lot less often. It is less common to see a minority for obvious reasons. It’s understandable to not be accustomed to differences among people of a different race. Also, if someone is in a group, they are more likely to see the differences amongst individuals within the group versus someone outside of the group. There is a logical reason as to why minorities are often called the same name or are referred to incorrectly.

Certain minorities may look like another race. However, this does not mean it is advised to assume someone’s race. We must remember to ask someone if we are to refer to them as a specific race. Let me be clear: this does not give someone license to ask direct and tactless questions such as “What are you?” which can offend the person in question. This brings me to my last point: being conscientious, asking politely and paying attention can exceed your expectations. It is important to not rely on brazen exclamations such as, “All people of this race look the same!” when one calls a minority another minority’s name. Mistakes can be forgiven. But, trying a little to remember each person’s name shows respect and an eagerness to learn about all the different things that make that individual special.  Mistakes of this kind, when they happen repeatedly, can show a side of society that needs improvement. Even if one feels confident assuming the race of a person, it is still essential to ask first. We are a melting pot and someone may surprise you with their response. Remember to be conscientious, ask before assuming and pay attention to the details because it can make all the difference.