Trapped: The Elevator Incident of 2025
“For a bad situation, the vibes were actually mad good.”
Just by the title, you might already be confused, but if you already know, then nothing here will confuse you. On the first day of Trimester 3, I got stuck in the elevator of Comp Sci High. And I was not alone. Today, I will tell you my story from when those heavy metal doors closed to when I had to jump out the elevator and breathe out a large sigh of relief.
On March 3rd, Monday morning, I went down to the main office with Ms. Jude and Rihanna (Osiris) to give our morning announcement. At first all was well, and we left the main office and started walking towards the elevator. As the three of us were walking into the elevator, we were joined by none other than Liana and Fatou…together. Once Ms. Jude gave them the okay that they could come with us on the elevator I just knew something was bound to happen.
As we started to go up to the 4th floor so that Rihanna and I could get our stuff, the elevator suddenly stopped. At that very millisecond my body froze, and I went into a state of shock. Millions of things went through my head, and I found myself thinking “How will I get out of here,” “How long will I be here,” and “Am I going to stay trapped here…forever?”
While I was frozen in shock, Liana started playing her music, which was the worst part, and she started to have a party in the broken elevator. Fatou and Rihanna followed along with the vibe while I looked at Ms. Jude in complete disbelief for how I was stuck in an elevator with these people.
At least 10 minutes passed by, and by that point nearly most of the staff knew the elevator had people stuck inside of it, and then we got word that FDNY needed to be called for us to get removed from the elevator. This made my heart drop even more, because it made me think that we were stuck directly in between two floors, which is what almost happened. But after around 7 minutes of panicking, I just accepted the fact that it happened and started to calm down.
As I was calming down I looked down to see Liana, Fatou, and Rihanna doing a TikTok dance. That’s when I lost it.
It took awhile, but I ended up reaching a state where I fully accepted the fact that I was stuck in an elevator with these people. To be honest, it wasn’t bad, and in fact what helped me calm down the most were the people around me and how they encountered the situation. The whole time of being stuck in the elevator was full of laughs and jokes, until we realized how long we had been in the elevator for. First period was nearly ending, and that’s when we realized the severity of the situation. We made sure to stay calm.
Soon, we learned that we were wrong about where we were. We were just above the 3rd floor, and what that meant was that we had to jump out the elevator rather than casually walking out. It was then that the man, the myth, the legend Mr. Heyes came prying the doors open with his absurd strength to save us from being trapped in the elevator.
After the fact, I reached out to those who shared this experience with me to see how they were coping with all of it. Fatoumata told me that “when the elevator got stuck, I thought it was so funny, like what a coincidence; how could this happen to me and Liana of all people.” She said that she “thought it was kind of like karma, since we were supposed to take the stairs to the 6th floor, but happened to hop on the elevator.” Overall, Fatoumata described the experience as “pretty hilarious.”
Ms. Jude said it “was a typical Monday morning. I did announcements with Christian and Rihanna, then headed back upstairs to get some work done, as usual, during first period. Feeling generous, I let Liana and Fatoumata ride the elevator with us.” It was then that things changed: “As we made our way up to the fourth floor, the elevator suddenly DROPPED. Everyone screamed—except me. As the only adult on the elevator, I had to play it cool.”
She described what happened next: “I immediately called Ms. Kniesh, who sprang into action. She let me know that Mr. Heyes was on his way and would do his best to get us out. What felt like four hours stuck in that elevator was actually 45 minutes filled with vlogging, TikTok dances, diss tracks, spiraling, and unexpected bonding with some of my favorite seniors.”
It was, she said, “An experience I’ll never forget!”
Rihanna said: “Being stuck in an elevator was extremely nerve racking for me because it was my first time being stuck in an elevator.” Things escalated for her: “I was trying to keep my cool as much as possible till I wasn’t able to hold in my tears. Even though I was strong at first, on the inside I was anxious and distressed.”
And finally I spoke to Liana, who told me that, “at first, everything was chill, just a regular Monday morning.” She said she was “just vibing,” but then, “in the middle of my song, I felt us drop a little and heard this big thud.” To be honest, Liana “wasn’t even phased after that.” She said: “I was just chilling, vlogging the whole thing, and we were all laughing and making the best of it. For a bad situation, the vibes were actually mad good.”
Listen to the staff, everyone. Don’t go in that elevator.