Park Students opened their dorms to high school juniors on March 23 during Park After Dark, an annual event allowing high schoolers from all over the state of Missouri to get a taste of what college is all about.

With smiles, Park students waited in the Copley Quad lobby for their assigned high schooler for the night. Once students arrived they got settled into their room. From there students made their way to the McCoy Meetin House as they prepared for the unexpected mentalist to read their minds and trick their eyes.

“People had fun. They were shocked. Everybody was intrigued.” said Taela Ivory, senior, nursing major.

Ivory’s favorite part of the performance was when the mentalist was able to recite items from pieces of paper hidden in the audience that he had not seen before. She was also enticed with his ability to know personal things about an individual without ever talking to them before and creating illusions of connections between people.

“He took two people from the crowd and told them that they knew each other from a past life,” said Ivory. “When he would touch one of them the other would feel the touch. When he would move one the other would automatically move.”

Although Taela’s host student did not show up she still wanted to attend the event to support the Park Student Activities Board, the organization responsible for bringing the mentalist to campus.

Adrianna Mcmullen, junior, chemistry and criminal justice major, hosted a student from St. Louis, Mo. Both participated in the mentalists show.“It was cool that he knew all the stuff that there was no way he could’ve known at all,” said Mcmullen.

The mentalist had Mcmullen flip through a book and pick a word on the page. He then asked her to picture the word in the sky and think about one of the letters. Mcmullen couldn’t decide on a letter to choose and the mentalist knew it.

“He knew I was thinking of the letter ‘M’ originally but then thought of the letter ‘B’,” said Mcmullen. “From there he guessed that my word was submarine.”

Mcmullen and her host student left in complete shock.

Park After Dark continues to be a campus favorite. It provides an opportunity for high school students to prepare for college while exemplifying the leadership qualities of the host Park students. Many students, high school and college, say they leave the weekend with new long lasting friendships.