The feeling kicks in. First, it’s the sense of dread. The idea of helplessness fills the mind, and a sensation of fear surfaces. What follows is a realization. The spider is crawling quickly, and it’s coming closer.

Many people have fears: they may not be obvious, but many students walk around South every day dealing with phobias. In an Oracle-conducted survey, 40 out of 270 students admitted to having a major fear or phobia. The range for these “fears” is large; from the common “arachnophobia” (fear of spiders) to the fear of amusement parks, to being afraid of rejection–the list spans far and wide.

Freshman Natalie Wiseman admitted to being afraid of sharks. Ever since she watched a film depicting a frightening shark scene, she’s been unable to travel across seas on boats or airplanes, according to Wiseman.

“When I was in third grade, they showed us a video of people getting lost at sea, and they were hanging off a buoy and they got attacked by sharks,” Wiseman said. “So from[then] on, I’m so afraid of going in the ocean. Like, I won’t fly across the ocean on an airplane; I won’t go in the ocean, I won’t swim in the ocean. Only if [the water] is…really shallow.”

One of the downsides to this is the effect the fear of sharks has on her life.

“I want to go to Hungary and I want to go to Ireland to visit my family’s place where they came from, but because I’m so afraid of sharks, I can’t,” Wiseman said.

Some students’ fears impact their lives at school directly. Freshman Barbara Sodos, who is afraid of being alone, is one of them.

“I hate being alone. Even if I’m just supposed to return the shopping cart by myself, I’m like ‘no, I don’t want to do it,’” Sodos said.

The origin of Sodos’ fear, she speculates, is being an only child.

“I think [my fear of being alone] comes from the fact that I’m only child, and have no siblings,” Sodos said. “Since I’m so used to being alone all the time, I guess […] I’ve kind of just come to not like it.”

Because she fears being alone so much, Sodos admits her life at school is a little different.

“I have a buddy to walk to every class with me; I always need to be with other people,” Sodos said. “I even bring my friends to the bathroom with me.”

Arachnophobia, the irrational fear of spiders, is also common around South.

Freshman Zolboo Tumurtugs is one person with a phobia of spiders.

“I was tanning one time, and a spider crawled into my eye,” Tumurtugs said. “I got this huge, gigantic spider bite on my eye, and ever since, I’ve been so afraid of spiders.”

According to Tumurtugs, when she sees a spider, she jumps up and screams. She even reacts this way when she’s at school.

“It doesn’t matter where I am,” Tumurtugs said. “If I see a spider, I’m going to scream.”

Freshman Carl Adaza, who also admits to being afraid of several things, including snakes and spiders, believes there might be many things to fear.

“[…] I don’t even know what other things I’m afraid of,” Adaza said. “But I know them when I see them.”