For 24 consecutive hours, sophomores Ally Mediratta and Saish Satyal stayed in the dining hall, Bear’s Den (BD), without leaving for any reason. Beginning at 7:30 PM on Thursday, January 26th and concluding at 7:30PM on Friday, January 27th, Mediratta and Satyal journaled their way through a self-described “perilous and hollowing journey that emotionally devastated the both of us.” These are their stories. DUN DUN.

Aliana Mediratta (right) and Saish Satyal (left) spent 24 hours in Bear’s Den. They were visited by friends throughout the day./ (Courtesy of Aliana Mediratta)

Ally – 7:30PM

Today has been a strange leadup to what is currently the longest event I’ve ever penciled into my Google Calendar. Going into this challenge, my biggest priorities are attending a mock trial party a mere two hours after leaving BD, and not killing Saish in the middle of the night. 

Saish – 7:30PM

I am terrified. I’m raw-dogging BD. I haven’t brought a blanket, pillows, a change of clothes, or deodorant. My deodorant is supposed to last for 48 hours, so unless the Gillette marketers are lying to me, I should be fine. I’m deeply concerned for my hair though. Without my curls, I am nothing. 

Saish – 8:39 PM

It’s been an hour. Ben says I’m “too energetic” and “going to crash”. I think he’s a hater praying on my downfall. I’m unstoppable. I’m never going to die. EDITOR’S NOTE: This was truly a simpler time. 

Ally – 9:05 PM

I am starting to freak out. It’s been all fun and games thus far, but as I reflect on how much time is left, a chill washes over me. Perhaps this was not my best idea ever. I am sitting with my friends Elena and Zach, but I am slowly coming to terms with the realization that eventually, they will leave. They will all leave. It’ll just be me, Saish, and the emptiness of Bear’s Den. And what then? What then?

Saish – 9:20PM 

I am, or was, first on the waitlist for a 75 person lecture class that I think I value more than life itself, but the add-drop deadline has officially passed. I am resisting the urge to burn down this Bear’s Den. I feel the urge to retreat into a hidey-hole to be alone for hours . . . an all-nighter with two other people may not bode well. 

Ally – 10:42PM

I feel a sense of relief as people file out, looking forward to the quiet time I’ll have between midnight and 7am. I’m starting to hit my natural limit and I want to listen to music while I stare at the ceiling. Unfortunately, my right airpod is dead for the foreseeable future. I’m noticing for the first time that BD is filled with neon lights: the blue booth lamps, the green lines by the food stations, the red glow over Paws & Go. I wonder if those lights are on all night. Will BD staff leave us in complete darkness? EDITOR’S NOTE: We never received the luxury of darkness.

Ally – 12:46AM

Everyone has left BD, save for me, Saish, Riley, Ben, and Grant. This experiment is showing me that WashU students are surprisingly motivated to help people with their silly little projects that have almost no tangible value. I’ve changed into pajamas, did my skincare routine in the BD bathroom, and gradually lost the ability to formulate coherent thoughts. I’m considering falling asleep in a corner booth, but I’m also concerned that an hour of mediocre sleep is worse than staying awake. 

Ally – 2:50AM

All the normal people have left; I am sitting in a booth underneath a blanket quietly singing along to the Pitch Perfect soundtrack. I want nothing more right now than to go out and 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 – 3:00 AM

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 – 4:15AM

After having been here for hours, I now understand the face of God. The vibe here really screams “Abandon all hope ye who enter here.” For every extra hour that we stay here, my brain gets a little more scrambled and fuzzy. This also may be because I have not slept. However, on the positive, I’m excited to discover a new form of mindlessness that could only come from 24 hours here.

Saish – 5:13AM

I’ve been watching footage from the camera for the past hour. Watching yourself on video is deeply weird, it’s jarring to see yourself do something that you thought was normal at the time, but is actually abnormal and detached. I think I’m starting to see things out of the corner of my eye? I really think I’m starting to need sleep. But I physically cannot fall asleep here. 

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 lives together. 

Saish – 6:00 AM

Accidentally woke up Ally while filming an interview with Ben. (I’m so sorry Ally <3) I think it’s best if I attempt to sleep for a little bit, both for my well-being and for the well-being of this set. EDITOR’S NOTE FROM ALLY: He did wake me up. Allegedly, he’s never seen me that mad. I simply can’t remember this incident. 

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. After I leave this building, I will be filing a complaint and starting a petition about the fact that the lights here never turn off. That has got to be an environmental hazard. 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. 

Editor’s note: Ally promises she knows who Bon Jovi is.

Ally – 7:15AM 

Almost halfway through. I’ve always enjoyed sitting by myself watching the sun rise, not in any exciting matter, but slowly, until suddenly it’s day and I feel like I woke up early enough to see a secret part of the day no one knows about. As though everyone walking around in the afternoon might think the sun just rose in a missable instant. EDITOR’S NOTE FROM SAISH: I hate Ally for this. Poetic ass mf. I noticed, just now, that I’ve grown slightly territorial over this space. I feel like being here overnight showed me something that other people wouldn’t understand. I’m aware these are the ramblings of a tired crazy person with an unhealthy attachment to a dining hall but let me have my moment. 

Ally – 8:05AM

People are here now. I want to think the only thing connecting me to having slept in BD are Ben and Saish passed out in their booths, but that’s wishful thinking when I’m in pajamas, clutching a pillow with a ghost that says “Here for the boo’s,” and I have a toothbrush on the table. 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. 

Saish – 9:08 AM

Just woke up. My mouth feels terrible. My stomach is filled with rage and a heavy gas. My feet are starting to feel like cardboard, but I can’t take off my shoes now. I fear releasing a noxious odor into this dining hall if my feet ever leave their prison—and yet, I think I have lost all sense of shame. My friends informed me that I was snoring loudly but at this point, who cares? What does it matter? Nothing matters. That’s part of what I’ve realized here. 

Saish – 9:20 AM

My stomach has never been more violent. I cannot emphasize enough how terrible of an idea it is to eat a burger, a philly cheesesteak, and half of a Domino’s pizza all over the span of an hour. 

Saish – 9:52 AM

I have become convinced that being in here has clogged at least two of my non-major arteries and shortened my lifespan by at least 2 weeks. 

Saish – 10:47 AM

Turns out, I just needed to take a dump. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I feel happy, energetic, and hopeful about both life and my future. 

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 no longer 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. 

Saish – 5:07 PM 

I can’t remember life before the Bear’s Den. I feel as though I have lived hundreds of lifetimes, gained and lost hundreds of loves in the blink of an eye. I talked to Andrew as a peer and a friend at 3PM yesterday. Today, I see him as an ancient love whom I have lost to the winds of time, blowing away everyone and everything, except for these godforsaken booths, and Ben and Ally. 

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 Stockholm-Syndrome-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. 

Ally’s 24 Hours in BD by the numbers:

Games of ‘Spot-It’ played: 9

Games of ‘Spot-It’ won: 6

Times I listened to a song from Pitch Perfect: 38

Meal points spent: $77.77

Guests interviewed: 26

Hours slept: 2

Existential crises: 7

Fights with Saish: 2.5

Cherry Tree desserts eaten: 6

Acknowledgments

We want to say a special thank you to our lovely friend Ben Ewer for spending 23 hours in BD and demonstrating an unbelievable degree of commitment to the bit, Sanch Pothuru for helping us with camera logistics and delivering a battery to BD at an ungodly hour, Varnika Kailash for providing us with blankets and pillows, Johnny Yeldham and Jenna Nguyen for bringing us Rummikub, the entirety of Top Floor Lien for the emotional support, all of the mock trial members who were subject to my exhaustion, including Grace Abbott who set an early morning wake up call and Ashton LeeLee who is the funniest person on the planet, Julia Robbins and Nina Giraldo as well as the entire news team for encouraging our ridiculous contributions to StudLife, Amy O’Connor for her contribution of sweatpants and pep talks, Grant McIntyre for being hot, Via Poolos and Alice Gottesman for bringing us over to the dark side (writing for Scene), the BD gods, and to each and every person who sacrificed time that could have been spent doing productive stuff to come visit us.