24 Hours in Bear’s Den: The Challenge No One Asked For

dance somewhere. I think dancing in my pajamas in BD at 3am would indicate that I’ve officially lost a piece of myself–perhaps my pride. It’s time to figure out if the coffee robot can make tea.

Saish - 3:00AM

I think the past few hours have perfectly exemplified the long term effects of BD on the human soul. I have experienced every emotion: elation, enlightenment, existentialism, and the deep crushing despair of knowing I have to be in purgatory for 16 more hours.

Saish - 5:30AM

There is nothing more disheartening than receiving the Associated Press and NYT emails in your inbox having never gone to sleep. You just feel like a pathetic loser while the rest of the world gets their life together.

Ally - 6:06AM

It’s six in the morning and if I never saw this building again for the rest of my life, I would still need more time. I think that sleeping in a BD booth caused some type of long term joint damage in both my neck and my shoulders. Also, ‘Livin’ on a Prayer’ is playing overhead, and Billy Joel is singing “we’re halfway there.” Billy, we are not, in fact, halfway there.

Ally - 8:05AM

People are here now. I feel like I’m keeping a diary as I embark upon a perilous covered-wagon journey along the Oregon Trail. I hope I don’t die of dysentery. This BD breakfast is upsetting my stomach, so that might take me out eventually.

PUZZLE Mania

Saish - 12:38PM

People keep asking me how I’m feeling after having been in BD for so long. This question fundamentally misunderstands the effect of BD on a person. I am not separate from BD. It is an absurd notion to think my mother birthed me. ‘Twas BD that birthed, raised, and took care of me. Do I feel love for this place? No. Not in the slightest. Do I feel every ounce of loyalty towards it? Instinctively.

Ally - 3:00PM

Four and a half hours left.

I am suddenly extremely exhausted. EDITOR’S NOTE: Ally never updated the article again nor can she remember any events that occurred for the next four hours. She may be the first person to ever black out from dining hall-induced psychosis.

Ally’s closing thoughts

It’s been over a week since Saish and I sacrificed everything to do what no one thought was possible. Or not, because literally nobody told us to do this. Not one person. Surprisingly, a main takeaway was the positive aspect of spending time with each others’ friends. Even more shockingly, Saish and I remain friends to this day, which is likely a pseudo trauma bond. In fact yesterday I told Saish I was nostalgic of the BD days; Or, rather, day. He told me I was going insane, which, no comment. Maybe BD has some strange StockholmSyndrome-hold on me that will last until graduation.

Now, as the changed woman I am today, I’ve been waxing poetic about the value of community. I think it can be easy to forget that we all have access to this community all of the time. No one is stopping you from hosting a BD game night and playing Rummikub for two hours. Literally—at no point did a single person try to kick us out of BD, which was slightly concerning. BD might be the wrong example to make this point upon, but put simply, spending all of my time there with others reminded me how special and fleeting it is to be a member of this campus community.

Saish’s closing thoughts

BD was a melon baller, and I was a hapless cantaloupe, unaware of the horrors that were about to befall me. Hour by hour, I was hollowed out until I was just a round, thick shell of a man. Ally and I did not talk for the entire weekend following the experience because it would’ve brought up too many bad memories. I do feel much closer to her though. Ally called it a pseudo-trauma bond, and I would simply take out the “pseudo”.

One week and a few sleep cycles later, I feel content. Freshman year I spent an average of four hours a day in BD, so I’ve pulled many all-nighters there before. I am a mountain climber. I had summited Kilimanjaro before, but this was my Everest. I’ve finally climbed Everest. I’ve finally conquered BD.

To read a complete account of Mediratta and Satyal’s experiences, visit the Student Life website.

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