My friends often joke that I have no sense of direction. Yet, contrary to popular belief I am actually excellent at navigating when I have a map. The true problem stems from my optimistic confidence and relaxed attitude when I have no map, and in fact no idea where I’m going. Why let a little thing like that stop me? In that scenario, yes, I tend to end up lost.
Now, I’m no urban explorer, but since coming to Berkeley I have found it can be rather enjoyable to end up lost. This started as an accidental discovery, but at this point has become a bit of a game, something to pass a few minutes between classes during the day, and all can be traced back to one incident back during my very first semester at UC Berkeley. You might expect this first misadventure to have occurred in Dwinelle Hall, arguably the most confusing building on campus, which is literally laid out like a maze. However my first misadventure actually took place at Doe Library.
Anyone who has stepped foot on our Berkeley campus knows about our many, many, many, many…many libraries. In fact, it is often a fun tour stop to have guests stand outside Doe Library and ask them to point in the direction where there is “no library” (Pst, the only correct answer is UP). So having gone on one of the campus tours myself, I had heard about “Main Stacks”, the infamous underground library, and was eager to see it in person once I was living on campus.
My knowledge beyond it being “underground” was rather limited. I knew that it could be entered via Doe and/or Moffit Library and I knew it would be cool. That was about it. Now a few of my friends had been to Main Stacks, and despite being a bit clueless through most of this story, I did actually have the foresight to ask one of them for directions. Unfortunately those directions didn’t really extend beyond the woefully inadequate: “It’s down the stairs”. No duh guys, I worked that one out on my own.
Now I could have asked them to come with me and show me where it was, but what’s the fun in that? I was sure I could navigate this new school myself. I was wrong, but unfortunately there was no one to tell me that.
I came in through the main entrance of Doe, passing beneath the bust of Athena and through the intricate massive doorway. I consider Doe Library to be the most beautiful library on campus, which just makes it all the more intimidating. I certainly considered it much too grand for little ol’ me in those early days. Then just past the desk came the first crossroads. A hall that forked in three directions, upstairs, right, and left. I knew enough not to go up stairs, but otherwise it was a coin toss. I went right. That was my first mistake. (Or second if we are counting not asking for better directions)
The right hallway was dull and devoid of any display cases or art. I should have known then that this was most certainly not the way to a well known subterranean book depository, but at the end was an unmarked staircase that went down. So I shrugged and went “down the stairs”.
At the bottom was another hallway, completely devoid of any activity or people. I should have just turned around. This was clearly not an underground library bustling with students, or even the likely path to one. I should have just texted my friends and asked for more specific directions. I should have done a lot of things I didn’t do. I kept going.
You would think that in a school with a student population of 45,882 you would never be alone, but as I walked the row of plainly painted doors with Biohazard signs you could have heard a pin drop.(I went back later this year and it was nowhere near as creepy…I think it was an off day.) However, at this point in my journey I was pretty sure I had just unintentionally discovered where they kept the zombies and was growing more and more unnerved by the minute. Up ahead, the hall ended at a lonely elevator, so conceding defeat I nervously pressed the button to head up and try to start from the beginning.
However when I emerged from the elevator I did not find myself back by the main entrance, or any familiar busling area, but in a random back hallway that looked a lot like the one I’d just left. I’m a big fan of analog horror and the creepy aesthetic of liminal space, and the visual as I exited the elevator was like something straight out of The Backrooms (Look it up on Youtube). This was the point at which I texted my friends, not to ask for directions like a normal person, but to make sure that I hadn’t somehow fallen through reality and ended up in some alternate universe. I hadn’t. So I walked out and up the first set of stairs that I saw, and up again.
Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Up stairs?! That’s literally the exact opposite of the directions you were given!” That would be correct, but I just wanted to be out of the place I was currently. So I found myself on the second floor, in a hall I was already well familiar with, and instead of continuing on to the well populated reading rooms that I had already been to several times to study, I continued on up the stairs.
It was there that I encountered The Monk. Now when I say monk, I mean like a full on Tibetan monk, red and yellow robes and everything. This was yet another moment in which I wondered if today was just a particularly odd day, or if this was a usual occurrence on Berkeley campus? I definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore. I had never met a monk of any sort in person before, but seeing as he was headed down the stairs and I was headed up. I didn’t stop to chat. I certainly felt the urge to take a photo for my friends, just to prove later that this had actually happened, but that seemed rather rude.
Reaching the top of the stairs I was greeted by another quiet corridor, although this one was considerably less zombie-ish than the previous. Doors were open along both walls leading to various offices for faculty, and I paused to read a few of the posters and flyers by their doors. As I wound farther into the building, the hall grew increasingly dim. I finally drew to a pause when I was met with the unsettling sight of another elevator with a single flickering light just above. Now if I was certain of one thing, it was that I should not get in that elevator. I stood and watched it for a few minutes in the silence, waiting to see if something would happen.
Then as if on command, the elevator dinged.
I stood and waited with bated breath.
Of course that was the moment that the universe decided to prove me wrong and the doors opened as a student, who looked rather confused as to why I was staring at her, calmly exited the elevator.
I continued down the hall for a bit before I was met with a bright green door with a large window. It looked different from the other doors, out of place. I could see through the large window in it that it led down a short hall to simply another odd green door. I was tempted to see if it was unlocked, stride down the hallway and continue into what I was pretty sure was another building, but instead I decided it was finally time to end my adventure. I did have some self preservation instincts and I was pretty sure I had seen enough of Doe Library for one day.
Still not totally willing to get in another elevator I found the main stairs and headed back down to where I had begun. It wasn’t until several weeks later, with the accompaniment of my friends, that I actually found main stacks. Yet I can’t help but be thankful for the confusion. In a time when we have all the world's information at our fingertips, sometimes it's nice to just go wander, investigate, explore… and see where you end up. You might even get a good story out of it.
How to Play Getting Loston Berkeley Campus:
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Pick a building at Random that you have:
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Never been inside
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Only seems a small amount of
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Start picking directions and Stair Cases at random
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Please note signage and stay out of areas that are restricted
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Enjoy the ride