[TL;DR: A reflection from a university student on the power of influences and how a recent experience at an escape room The Trip: What Happened in Larspura unlocked new perspectives when it came to drugs and her value to stay open-minded.]
University felt like a huge step-up. The campus was huge, cross-faculty learning was invigorating, and some personalities were larger than life. Having settled in, at 21, my resolution was to be fearless and to live fully. A friend that I had gone on exchange programme with signed us up for an experience at “Ben’s Brain”, one of three immersive escape rooms that ran at the Stamford Arts Centre. I left this experience with renewed perspectives.
A Journey Through a Fractured Mind
(Learn more here: uninfluenced.sg/events/the-trip-what-happened-in-larspura)
My visit to Ben’s Brain started out as a playful experience but I soon realised the escape room was much more than a game, it was a deep dive and reflection on all the vulnerabilities we share. It was a game designed to reveal how our brains take in a variety of influences we experience – and how one’s views and actions might change in the face of new experiences when we lose sight of what we truly value.
Stepping into Ben’s Brain felt like entering a surreal labyrinth of puzzles and personal history. The escape room’s design was clever: it challenged participants to witness and piece together Ben’s life and in doing so solve four distinct puzzles that represented four different parts of the brain. I loved the frontal lobe game which was modelled after the higher-level cognitive functions such as decision-making that our frontal lobe engages in. The decision-making game underscored how easily our choices can be hijacked. The different puzzles in the room, reflected the real-life impact that influences have on us and how they can change our views to be receptive to drugs. As we scrambled to piece together clues, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to my own experiences.
(Learn more here: uninfluenced.sg/events/the-trip-what-happened-in-larspura)
My Déjà vu Experience
I had spent considerable time on an overseas exchange and resonated with Ben’s story where an overseas trip turned into a chase for a novel experience. Sometimes, it created harmless fun and even led to eye-opening experiences (Think building your own house with your own hands. Imagine doing that in cosmopolitan Singapore). Other times, it meant playing with fire including joining drug-fuelled raves and toying with the idea of trying them in countries where drugs are legalised. After all, whatever happens overseas, stays overseas. Right? And according to news reports, I was not alone in feeling this way. In 2022, at least 41 Singaporeans and PRs were arrested for drug abuse overseas. Thankfully, I had friends who reasoned with me and we stayed away from drugs.
On hindsight, it could have gone down a slippery slope. What if my friends stayed silent, worried about either offending me or appearing close-minded?- Would that have changed my decision? The pressure and fear of missing out are real challenges that could affect anyone regardless of age. Being a foreign exchange student could be a lonely experience due to language or cultural differences. Some could feel the pressure to explore uncharted territory such as trying drugs to avoid being shunned, since recreational drug use could be legalised and normalised in those countries. The conundrum could be very real, leading even those who had never considered drugs back home to struggle with the decision of whether they should give in to temptation.
Final Reflections
Studies have shown that more than earlier cohorts, my generation has a greater openness to experimentation and capacity for diversity. Being open-minded can help us to grow along with new experiences – the good, bad and ugly. And that’s okay, if we are grounded in our values
But we could waver in situations where lines are blurred or we feel pressured to act. In these situations, can we stay true to what we value while mollifying that fear of speaking up?
What began as a game evolved into a sobering lesson on the types of influences in our lives and what it fundamentally means to be open-minded. Ben’s Brain wasn’t just an exhibit—it was an experience that prompted us to question our personal experience, our vulnerabilities, while considering the things we truly value in life.