College Experience

Informant: Male/19 years old/Portuguese Ancestry

Location: University of Hawaii at Hilo Dorms, Big Island

During high school, I spent my summers in an academic college prep program at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Part of the programs goals was to simulate life in college, and so this included living in the dorms for about six weeks.

My first summer in the program, I was a little apprehensive about living in the dorms. The day I moved in, I felt uncomfortable in my dorm room. However, I just chalked it up to being away from home and shyness. As soon as I came out of my shell and got to make friends, I didn't feel uncomfortable in my room anymore.

Since my first day in the dorms, there has always been ghost stories surrounding the particular dorm we lived in. Students would often spread rumors of ghostly children playing the halls or that the dorm was in the path of a Night Marchers' trail. I was very skeptical about it.

Then one day, I experienced something that I cannot find an explanation for.

I was lying in my bed, alone in my dorm room, just relaxing from studying. I was just lying down, and listening to some music, nothing else. Then, I began to feel a hand behind my head. I was scared, because the door was closed and I knew that I was alone. Then the hand began to move around, underneath my head, as if it was playing with my hair. I tried my best to remain calm, I didn't want to make any sudden movements. I slowly began to move away from my bed. As soon I moved my head, my pillow which my head had been on, went flying across the room and hit the wall across from my bed with tremendous force. At the moment, I felt like I was threatened, and I just ran like the building was on fire.

I found the program director, and of course I brought it up with her. She just laughed at me and blamed the whole experience on me being scared about living away from home for so long. However, she did let me move into another room, and since then I've never been into that room again.

After that summer, I've spent later summers in that dorm, and have never experienced anything like that in the dorms again.