A E R F Childhood fear overcome Rion Ellis
staff reporter
It was supposed to be a relaxing day with her grandmother. A bright-eyed five yearold was on her way to the local mall, where various characters from Nickelodeon television shows were meeting their young fans. She had her sights set on meeting all of the characters that she could. Her chance came when she spotted Donnie from The Wild Thornberrys. Little did she know that the wild boy would tower over her small stature. As he came closer the fear swelled up inside of her and she retreated to a rack of clothes in a nearby clothing store. This was the day that junior Ayana Reid discovered her fear of character costumes. “I remember my body freezing and my heart rate was abnormally fast,” Reid said. “Emotionally, I was petrified and I couldn’t think straight.” Masklophobia, or fear of masks, is surprisingly common, especially in children. The fear can vary from being afraid of horror masks, to fear of costumed characters. Reid suffers from both. “If I find myself at an amusement park and I see one of those characters, I speed walk past them so they don’t see me and try to touch me,” Reid said. “Or during Halloween if someone is dressed as Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, that’s terrifying, too.” Although Reid is still affected by masklophobia, she doesn’t let the fear overwhelm her. “I know it’s hard not to be afraid, but fear doesn’t have to be who you are, and you can be strong to face it,” Reid said. “You want to overcome it before it brings you down.”
Sophomore triumphs over deep concern of being forgotten Rumor stojek staff reporter When she’s alone, a gigantic hole of paranoia eats its way through her skin. She wills the anxiety to subside by plotting out the layout of her house, counting each step, each corner, each turn of her house. Ever since she was four years old, sophomore Nataly Alva has dealt with a phobia called athazagoraphobia, an irrational fear towards being forgotten or ignored. “Most of my family is in Mexico and I don’t know most of them,” Alva said. “I’m the only one in the United States so I’m scared that my family is going to forget me, or that my friends will.” Although her phobia has been an obstacle to surmount in her life, Alva still takes steps to keep her legacy alive by leaving notes and pictures for her close friends and family to be able to reminisce on their relationship and smile. Additionally, she writes quotes about the importance of life and tells them to people so that they will remember her. “I like to give myself a challenge. I used to be afraid of spiders when I was two until I picked up a tarantula,” Alva said. “[Fear] makes me stronger. I know if I can overcome being forgotten I can do anything. It’s just your choice of wanting to overcome it and not have the fear become you.”
April 24, 2015
Life, Style, & Arts
13
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Fear of toes creates struggle for junior Chloe pham staff reporter It had been another regular school day for junior Callie Darling as she starts her morning off with color guard. She gets changed out and finds a place on the floor to begin her stretches, but there’s only one problem. As she looks over she sees a pair of feet coming her way and eventually makes contact with her skin. Within an instant Darling is up off the floor and finds the nearest place away from her fears. After a few minutes Darling was able to regain her composure and forget about the toes that had once touched her. Ever since she was a little girl, Darling has been dealing with her fear of toes known as matatielephobia. It hinders her abilities to see and/or feel toes on or around her. “Its like a barrier I can’t get around,” Darling said. “Like when people do the toe-grabbing thing it freaks me out. My grandma did that too and I guess that’s where it started because she would always pinch me [with her toes].” Darling however has been able to deal with her fear and has even learned to manage being around feet. She uses socks to help avoid making contact with any feat or toes coming her way as she puts it around them. And has even learned an important lesson from her fears. “Just take it with a grain of salt.” Darling said. “Challenge yourself to face it, but in slow increments so you don’t freak yourself out.”
Reporter channels fear of people into writing horror genre Julian Cowell
staff reporter
I live in a world inhabited by strange beings of whom I know very little about. I’m forced to interact with these creatures every day. This dark and twisted realm, which had brought me such unease, bears the name “Earth,” and the creatures that I speak of are men and women just like you. Humans. For as long as I can remember, I have struggled with anthrophobia, a fear of people, which, unlike someone being merely antisocial, which is just a general dislike of others, people with anthrophobia are filled with absolute terror whenever they are brought into the presence of another human being. It is not at all impossible for me to make friends, but when in the presence of an unknown figure, I find myself filled with seemingly immeasurable fear. My legs gain the consistency of jelly and little more than a whisper can escape my lips, and I’m left with no alternative other than to slink away and hope I can forget the incident. Perhaps that is why, as a writer, I am so fond of horror. In these stories, I’m no longer the one that lives in terror. I am merely a spectator, viewing the events as they happen and transcribing them onto paper, and for every single page of putrid prose and frightening fiction that I put out, I feel a small bit of my own fear vanish, as if it has been trapped within the story itself. I understand that what I create can be disturbing, but there is nothing that any writer in this world can create that shall ever frighten me as much as human beings and what they are capable of doing to one another. As what they are capable of doing to me.