Note: While the event I am going to explain happened in 2011, it is still something that I occasionally reflect back on and remains very relevant in my life. I wish I had reacted differently than how I did and I feel this incident can serve as caution to others.
I attended Humboldt State (now called Cal Poly Humboldt) in Arcata, CA for one year, 2011-2012.
During this year I lived in the dorms on campus, and during the fall 2011 term I had a roommate named Erica whom I shared a room with.
At first Erica seemed like a nice person. She was a hippie-type of person who smoked marijuana and came off as someone who was free spirited. However, as I got to know her she became more strange.
One day I entered our room and saw her dangling a crystal hanging from a chain over her hand.
“What are you doing?,” I asked.
“Dowsing. Do you want to try?,” she said without hesitation.
I said okay. She handed the crystal to me and told me to dangle it over my hand. Then she said I need to ask a yes or no question in my head and watch the crystal. If it sways right then the answer is yes, if it sways left then the answer is no.
I sat there and did what she said, though I thought it was a bit odd.
I noticed Erica rarely studied.
When I was first caught off guard was a few weeks later when I arrived to our room and noticed her pots and pans were in the kitchen trash can. I took note of it but didn’t say anything to Erica.
A couple days later I came back to find her phone in a bowl of water in the kitchen sink. Erica wasn’t there. I decided to call campus housing to mention my roommate had been acting strange. The person on the phone assured me someone would look into the matter.
I assumed a staff person would come by to talk to Erica and figure out what the problem was.
Soon Erica came back, and not long after I heard knocking on the door. I looked over and to my horror it was the police. Oh my god, I thought, what is Erica going to think??
Erica opened the door and spoke to the police politely as they asked if there were any problems. They quickly determined there was no issue and left.
After the door was closed Erica immediately turned to me with a scary angry look on her face. In a serious and threatening tone she yelled, “GET OUT.”
Even though we shared the room, I grabbed my laptop and left. I should have called campus housing right away but instead I returned the next morning.
At this point Erica was gone, but I found my cellphone broke in half and my clothes were covered in dish soap in a trash bag. I called campus housing and she was immediately removed from the room.
Later I noticed some of my clothes were stolen.
A few days after the incident she returned unsupervised and said she was sorry. I now am surprised campus let her visit me without supervision since she was clearly having mental problems.
Once she was gone her friend, whom she had smoked marijuana with, told me she had actually been removed from campus the previous year for threatening her roommate and breaking her laptop in half.
I was shocked that the campus allowed her to return and even let her stay with another roommate (me) despite her having a history of mental problems and threatening and destructive behavior.
I did not pursue conversation with the campus over this incident, even though I wish I did. Why on earth did they send the police which escalated the problem and endangered my life?? Imagine if she had done something more heinous like stab me?
Additionally I did not report her to the police even though she destroyed and stole my property. At the time I was shocked and bewildered and did not know what to do so I let it go.
Now I wish I did report her to the police because I recently read an article published in 2023 that Erica burned her father’s house down. Her father reported she had been having mental problems that had been escalating, which was the same thing I experienced with her. The article also mentioned that at the time Erica had no criminal history, which made me think if I had reported her then something may have showed up on her record.
Ultimately I feel Humboldt State endangered my life by leaving me with a person who had a history of mental problems and threatening and destructive behavior. How they addressed the situation by sending the police to our dorm room also made matters much worse and put me in a very vulnerable position.
Additionally I think there needs to be more discussion about how to file a report with the police and when to do so. Damaged or stolen property, even if it is a cheap phone or clothes, needs to be reported to the police so that the person has a criminal history and receives adequate punishment. It is easy to assume a small crime could be a one-off incident, however it could actually be repeat behavior, as can be seen in Erica’s case, and reporting the person’s crime can protect others in the future.
Photo source: https://www.calstate.edu