Pumpkins sit on display in Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports after being carved by students Tuesday night at The Great Pumpkin Search of SMU. (Casey Lee)

A dim candle-lit glow emerging from behind a carved toothy grin of a jack-o-lantern is a familiar sight in October as an American Halloween tradition.

The Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports took it one step further and challenged students to carve the best pumpkin Tuesday in the second annual “Great Pumpkin Search of SMU.”

Over three-dozen students turned out, carving knives in hand to put their creative juices to the test on the pumpkins. Assistant aquatics supervisor, and event organizer Lindsey Keller said she was thrilled with the turnout. She originally had the idea when she was reading an article in Southern Living about a similar tradition at Auburn University.

She said it is a huge all day community event at Auburn and wants to create a comparable event with a lot of student involvement here at SMU.

“It would be kind of neat to get the students more involved in school with stuff like this,” Keller said. “You just have to have fun like when you were a kid, everyone is creative they just have to get into the spirit.”

There was also an international flare at the competition. Rebecca Lommel, a professor in the intensive English department, showed her international students a video on YouTube on how to carve a pumpkin, and brought them out to test their creative ability.

She said that watching the video helped their English comprehension skills and that this was a great chance to teach all of them some American culture.

“While learning a new language it is important to learn about the culture as well. This is a new holiday for most of them, and this hands on sort of way of learning the culture is fun,” Lommel said.

After carving out their creations, Lommel said that the students will be required to write a how-to essay in English, solidifying their knowledge of the language and culture.

For many of the students participating it is their first time celebrating Halloween and carving a jack-o-lantern.

“This is my first time carving a pumpkin,” international student Nataly Pinilla said. “It is harder than I thought and the insides are disgusting. It is fun and interesting to see this part of a new culture though.”

Keller said that all of the pumpkins will be on display in the Dedman center and anyone who views them will be able to vote for their favorite. The winners will be chosen on Thursday and the top three pumpkins will receive various gift cards and items from the SMU book store.