What Scares You?

Halloween has come rolling around again; ghosts and monsters are back in season. What makes Stuyvesant students shiver in fear?

“The SAT.” —Jennifer Ji, junior

“Bugs are pretty scary. I've had nightmares of bugs taking over the whole world.” —Rohan Saha, senior

“In most instances, I’m scared of heights. I’m [also] occasionally scared of the dark if my eyes can’t adjust.” —Nikki Chen, sophomore

“I think death is really high up there.” —Cassie Fenwick, sophomore

“The little man, Maurice, who lives under my bed.” —Ian Graham, junior

“Getting eaten alive by bugs.” —Michelle Chen, senior

“Skinny Trump.” —Tiffany Wu, senior

“Personally I find small rooms scary, so I guess I'm a bit claustrophobic because if I'm running from a scary monster, being cornered and unable to do anything would probably be worse than anything else.” —Nicholas Zhong, senior

“Heights. Just heights.” —Angie Gyrzbowski, junior

“Being a disappointment to my parents.” —Naya Mukool, junior

“I think the college application process is pretty scary. So unexpected.” —Sean Fung, senior

“Myself.” —Nate Kim, sophomore

“If we are talking about superficial fears, I really hate bugs. I think they are really gross, and if you look at them up close, they literally look like they don't belong on planet Earth.” —Sejuti Mannan, senior

“What scares me the most is the fear of going out all alone and something bad happening. I’ve been watching a lot of [‘Criminal Minds’ (2005-2020)] lately.” —Hepzibah Srithas, sophomore

“Ah, my future. I’m afraid of disappointing my parents. They worked so hard to get where we are now, and if I don’t live up to their expectations I’m just afraid of their disappointment. I wanna be able to buy them the things they never had, as they truly deserve it. If I do not get to do that in my future, and they die without having what they wanted in their lives, I’m going to be very sad and disappointed in myself as well.” —Sabrina Chen, junior

“I, for real, hate ghosts so much. I don’t know if they’re real or not, but whenever it’s dark, I run up the stairs so fast. It’s embarrassing.” —Aidan Look, junior

“Thinking I’m muted on a Zoom call when I’m actually not.” —Serena Chan, senior

“I’m concerned about the future, or should I say, our lack of one, if we don’t do anything about climate change.” —Sasha Socolow, junior

“I’m scared of Trump winning the election.” —Nafisa Ishra, junior

“What scares me is being lonely. I don’t like losing people, especially my friends and family. I hate ending calls, and I am terrified of drifting away from my friends. I am also really scared of insects, rodents, and clowns.” —Lauren Lee, sophomore

“Something that scares me is my family restaurant. Since I was 10, I have to help out in the restaurant every Saturday and on the holidays for the entire day (11 a.m. - 12 a.m.). The restaurant didn’t start out as my fear, per se, but as a child, every time I did something wrong, the punishment was to work more in the restaurant (so like if I have 5 days off from school, I might need to spend all 5 days there or just 1 day there, depending on my behavior. Or, my parents planned to give me a break for a week, but I messed up, so the break was taken away). Like how some kids are grounded in their room, I’m grounded in the restaurant. So, the fear of the restaurant kind of grew onto me. Another reason is that the family restaurant is located in a pretty shady neighborhood. One time a dude rushed into the restaurant and started shooting one of the customers. Thank god no one died, but it wasn’t a pretty scene either.” —Leeker Lin, senior

“Failure.” —Sharon Liu, sophomore

“I’m scared of the dark.” —Viana Lin, junior

“Dolls. Especially those that fall under the uncanny valley.” —Daisy Lin, junior

“Well, there's this Spotify ad right now about an asylum, and I really don't appreciate it playing when I'm this sleep deprived. Have they turned to scaring people into getting Spotify Prime? I think I’ll stick to singing along to Hello Expedia. Seriously though, it’s 3 a.m., and I only have my lamp on. From my computer’s camera, you just see my face and a pitch black background. The ad goes 'eEeeEeeEeheaheahea’ right when I turn on Photo Booth to check on my eye bags. I need sleep.” —Xiaoshen Ma, junior

“I'm so deathly terrified of needles to the point that when I enter the doctor's waiting room I turn pale and start to tremble. My hearing goes kind of fuzzy, and I feel cold everywhere, and I can vaguely hear my mom telling the doctor that I'm scared of shots, so he needs to do it really fast, and the doc laughs like he always does, and I know he'll try to do it fast, but he never does it fast enough. ‘Just a little pinch,’ he always says, but it feels like he's driving a bulldozer into my arm. The slight prickle when the needle hits is alright, but when he presses down on the plunger, I find myself thinking I’d rather be plowed down by a truck.” —Sunny Bok, senior

“The fact that one day, I may end up with my parents’ biggest flaws. Was this supposed to be a light-hearted question?” —Anonymous, sophomore

“I’m scared of myself.” —Anonymous, junior

“I am scared of mental degradation.” —Victor Veytsman, junior

“I was very scared of the dark when I was younger, but now things like horror movies, ghost stories, and ouija board games scare me. I am also pretty scared of wild animals like snakes and sharks. Murderers and serial killers are super real and scary in our society as well as electronic baby dolls, which are just terrifying. To be honest, though, the scariest thing of all is deadlines.” —Jahan Kavi, senior