In class assignment, Fear of Bees By Samantha Urueta

As a little girl, my brother and I spent most of our time outdoors. We loved running around under the sun and took great interest in nature. My brother also liked to climb trees until one day, he got stung by several bees. My first reaction was to run inside and tell my mom about the bees. By the time we both made it back outside, my brother was terrified and crying due to the painful stings. This incident automatically instilled a fear of bees in me. Especially after my mom explained to us that after bees sting they leave their stinger inside your skin along with some abdominal tissue. This sting later becomes red and itchy after time but can also be life threatening to those who are allergic to the bee sting.

This is where my irrational fear for bees and any other flying insects started. The only thing I could think about while being outdoors was being followed and attacked by bees. As soon as I would hear a buzzing sound I would run away as fast as I could and look back. Even if it was a small harmless fly, it was always better to be safe than sorry. I can honestly say I had a mild case of melissophobia growing up.

In class assignment, Voices in the Dark by Riley Stephens

Can you recall what it was like being a child in the dark? I can. I am aware of the multitudes of darkness; for example, a room lit by moonlight--the shadows making shapes on the walls. Or the worst: pitch black, can't-see-your-hand-in-front-of-your-face darkness. I have bipolar depression with psychotic features, which can give one auditory hallucinations. I am one of those lucky ones! As a child, I told no one because I believed it was my imagination. I would hear people whispering my name, a lady over an intercom (I could not quite make out what she was saying), a ship horn--just to name a few. It wasn't until I reached my young adult years and was still having my hallucinations I realized it very much so not my imagination. I have gotten them under control and I am able to finally SLEEP! 

Info on auditory hallucinations

The Lady in Black

When I was young I had a a dream where a very old women who was trying to kill me and my whole family. Her very scary image still remains in mind. She was wearing a very long dark dress and carried a knives while she was chasing me and my whole family. What I really  find very funny about my dream is that I did know what we were chased for. One day after a family get together this women showed up from no where and was able to kill my dad. The pain and sorrow that I had in my dream seemed so real.

Right after she killed my dad, I was not able to bear the pain and tried to kill her back. Unluckily she was untouchable and she kept vanishing when I tried to do something to her. me and my family tried to report her, but she end up killing the people who got involved. One day when I got off school she was chasing me trying to kill me. That is when I woke up from that scary dream. Even thought that was a big relief, she kept appearing on my dreams for few times since then. It was a big relief not having in my dream anymore.

In Class Assignment, I Was Scared To Fall Asleep, Kathleen Paxtor

When I was younger I never really was scared of much, but the one thing that scared me the most was going to bed. I absolutely hated going to bed or the idea of sleeping. At a young age I would stay up until one or two in the morning. On a daily basis I was getting 4-5 hours of sleep. As a 5 year old that should not be normal, but for me it was. If I could find any excuse to stop going to bed I would use it. After putting up a fight and it was time for me to go to bed I would always make my mom stay with me. I could not go to bed without my mom in the room or a light on. As embarrassing as it sound I slept with my parents until the age of 14. At the age of 15 I could go to sleep alone but I needed to have a light on at all times.

As I’ve gotten older I am no longer afraid of sleep or have to sleep with a light on. Looking back, I think that the area I grew up in caused one of the big reasons of why I hated sleep. I am from South Central Los Angeles (Compton, Inglewood, etc), which was not and is still not, the best part of the city or the safest. You would hear police, gunshots, and people yelling at all hours. I think that I was not afraid of sleep itself but what could happen in the middle of the night when I was sleeping. We lived in a small garage behind my grandparent’s house with a fence around our house and bars on our windows. I grew up knowing what murder, rape, gang violence, drive-byes, shoot-outs, and theft was. At the age of 6 I had my first lockdown because of a shooting in front of the school. The idea of not knowing what could happen terrified me; the idea of being unalert when we were sleeping made me feel like I had no power to what could have happened to us. I would see my family go to bed like nothing happened in our area and I felt like I needed to protect us. I knew we lived in an unsafe place with drivebyes and gangs right down the street. I never thought about how growing up in such a dangerous neighborhood really affected me. As I've gotten older I have learned how to appreciate where I came from and what I have learned.  A couple of years later, my parents decided we needed to move out of Cali to keep ourselves safe. We moved to a small, small town in the Midwest called Carthage, MO (right by Joplin, MO) and it was a huge culture shock but it was one for the better. I started to gain experience on how to interact with others and how it felt to for once feel safe. I could go to bed and close my eyes because instead of hearing gunshots I would just hear the crickets chirp in peace. Slowly, I was able to regain sleep with peace in mind.

(This was my actual house)