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Jordan Maria Knight

Mrs. Cramer

College Composition I

22 February 2019

Buffalo Science Museum Elevator Incident: A CAN Essay

Greetings, my name is Jordan Maria Knight, I’m 16 years old and I have autism. I would

be delighted to discuss about the incident of the 9 of January 2017. I know I don’t usually

discuss matters about traumatizing events like this one, but bear with me here. Back when I was

a high school freshman, I used to almost rely on elevators to transport quickly; however, I’m

currently scared of elevators because I got stuck in the shaft.

Firstly, it all started on an extremely cold day. We were originally going to have our field

trip on January 5; however, we had to reschedule due to inclement weather conditions. We

arrived at Buffalo Science museum at 10:15. The reason why we came to the museum is to learn

more about science. We learned about animals, extinction, and weather. However, our fun and

learning halted around the hour 11 a.m.

To add on, we were on our way to the third floor of the museum when we got stuck the

elevator. Ms. Barnes, Ms. Whitlow, Jacob, Harry, and Gabe were with me during the tragedy.

The elevator stopped between the second and third floors. The temperature was rising and there

was no air flow. We were stuck in the small elevator for about fifteen to twenty minutes; during

those minutes of my life, we were all panicking, and I was scared from the whole trauma of

being in a small, packed elevator. Eventually, some museum faculty members rescued us from

the elevator. They told us that we learned physics. They also gave us a glass of fresh water to

relieve us. We visited more exhibits, such as the exercise game and the bugs. Then, we came to

the first floor again to eat lunch. After that, we left the Buffalo Museum of Science at 1:30 PM
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and returned to the high school 2:30 PM. I slept on the way back to the school. When I returned

home, I decided to vow not to ride elevators ever again in my life, knowing that all elevators

could be like that. I avoided the school elevator at all costs. I used the stairs from that day

forward.

Furthermore, I learned the negative side of elevators. I know now that elevators break

down and stairs won’t technologically break down. I know that I stayed home for some

subsequent days because I felt sick after the traumatizing occurrence. It impacted me because it

made me a stronger person. It helped me use the stairs more often. I’m less lazy than I was

before the elevator incident. Some people say, “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

The elevator incident did not kill me; it made me a stronger human being. Next time I go to the

museum, I’ll go take the stairs. Therefore, I won’t have history repeating itself. It’ll help me with

overcoming the obstacles including college-related ones because I’m now a stronger person. If I

could overcome being trapped in a shaft, then I could overcome college.