Olivia Smallwood(11) stood at the north entrance of Eastland Mall on Thursday November 28th, waiting for the doors to open so she could get into PacSun.

“[The doors] opened [at 7:30], 30 minutes early,” she says. “It was very hectic, but I didn’t see anyone get trampled, so that’s a plus.”

Black Friday fell on November 29th this year, and as usual, residents of Bloomington-Normal engaged in a chase to get products at discounted prices. But one thing that was different was that for many students at Normal Community, it was their first year of Black Friday shopping by themselves.

Out of the 25 students that were surveyed, 13 said that they shopped without parental supervision for the first time. Among the four was Smallwood.

“I was a little nervous [going without my parents] because some people go crazy.” She remembers one of her first times Black Friday shopping when she was around ten years old. “I was at Target with my mom. I saw DVD players and I started to run over to them, but this woman pushed me to the ground and took all five of them!”

Aside from worrying about violent shoppers, Smallwood was also concerned about spending her money wisely. But after shopping consciously, she thought she spent her money “pretty well,” as did more 8 of the students who ventured into stores alone last weekend.

Though she had to put up with all of these anxieties at the mall, Smallwood said that, “overall, I had fun.”

She commented that it was all worth it for a couple of “cute tops.”