Olivia Skjervold

Dear Students,

Once, in a gift shop, I came across a novelty magnet that said: “whenever faced with a decision in life, chose whatever would make the best novel.” This advice (my mom assured me with an insincere chuckle) was not good. However, I, an aspiring writer, privately decided that this was, in fact, wisdom. 

The following is a little memory about how a few years later I accidentally locked myself in a basement (it makes a good ghost story):

I had managed to make it to my freshman year of college, determined to major in Creative Writing. I had plenty of assignments and spent a lot of late nights eking out papers to the soundtrack of my roommate noodling on a ukulele. It was about midnight when I got up to stretch my legs.

 Walking down the dormitory halls, I thought I’d procrastinate by exploring. The basement was not disappointing. A single fluorescent light illuminated a small dusty room where pipes plunged through the floor like arteries. Another open door across the room revealed a long hallway.

That’s when the door entered, decided to drift shut behind me. Locked.

I should have been terrified that I was locked in the basement of my residence hall, but instead, I felt a funny sense of satisfaction. Something just happened, and it was happening to me.

I like this story because I ended up milking it for all it was worth. Don’t worry, I eventually called for help and somebody got me out, but was a great story to embellish later. 

I hope that your interest in writing encourages you to explore all mysterious underground basement tunnels that find you, new perspectives, and even yourself.