There I was on a Wednesday night, shaking in my boots (Velcro high tops) and waiting for my dad in a pitch-black parking lot. To some degree, I am a strong and independent powerhouse, but on the other hand, I’m semi-afraid of the dark and I don’t feel particularly inclined to getting kidnapped.

As I shuffled my feet to and fro, anxiously stalking my father’s location, the wind whistled and I could feel the ghosts of Christmas past descending upon my defenseless being. Oh, the horror!

One such as I, subject to the parking lot after-dark, needs a means to keep the spirits at bay. Don’t let darkness prevail, wildcats! If we let it take hold, we are powerless. Without necessary illumination in our lives, there we are: alone in the oblivion with no means to tell who that is lurking in the back of the parking lot. Fellow student or foe? Kid or kidnapper? The solution must be… light?

Yes! Defined as “the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible”, I believe with utmost certainty that this phenomenon could be the solution to my and other’s-who-weren’t-as-fortunate-to-survive-their-encounter-with-the-spirit’s dilemma. Given the reintroduction of lights in the parking lot at all hours where there might be people waiting to get picked up, evidence presented by my Wednesday night experience proves that we might finally cut our kidnappings and ghost encounters in half if we take the right measures. Light in the student lot would help us humans in our tireless battle with nature by reestablishing our claim on the natural world and taking back the power our fear of the unknown might have leached from us.

We are strong. We are capable. However, these terms can only be put back into effect once we receive the necessary illumination to recognize our full potential. Us wildcats must not allow the electricity bill to defeat us.