In order to be hypnotized, you have to want to be hypnotized, trust the person, and you can’t try too hard. I was hypnotized, but I don’t remember a lot from that night.

To start the night off, hypnotist Jim Wand explained that 83% of our thinking is in our subconscious. The subconscious is used when people are in the hypnotic state, and when you are asleep. He informed us that one hour of being hypnotized is like a full, eight-hour night of sleep. He also explained that if you have previously been hypnotized, it is much easier to enter back into that state. He demonstrated this by putting a girl to sleep in under 10 seconds, then he erased her name from her memory.

A group of 22 people, including me, were put to sleep by looking at a focal point and listening to his voice. Before I was completely asleep, I tried to lift my head, but I couldn’t. After I fell asleep, I was aware of my surroundings, but unaware of what I was doing. Later, I asked sophomore Kaitlyn Slinker, who also attended the show, for some details on what had happened.

The first thing we did was perform in an ‘orchestra’. Each of us selected an instrument to play. We were told that whoever played the fastest won a fictional $30,000.

“The conductor would come and hit you with a balloon-type thing if you weren’t playing fast enough, and that woke quite a few people up,” said Slinker. I remember being frustrated because I was playing my fastest, but I kept getting hit, signaling that I had to play quicker.

Next, we attended a ‘horse race’. I remember taking my shoes off and using them as binoculars to see the race. Slinker said that we had to name our horses. Some people named their horses things like “Caitlyn Jenner” or “Softballs”. I named mine “California Bean Pile”. I don’t remember thinking of it, I do remember saying it.

Once the horse race began, if you thought that your jockey wasn’t doing well enough, you could ride the horse yourself. I don’t recall if I did or not.

Finally, the results were in. Horse number eight won the fictional $1,000,000 prize. The ‘footage’ was reviewed, and she was disqualified for cheating. She turned around to sit back down, and she looked like she was about to cry.

After that, we started dancing. We danced to “Gangnam Style,” “Teach me how to Dougie,” and other popular dancing songs. We ended with a conga line that went through the audience. As the audience applauded, everyone suddenly woke up. We were all confused at what we were doing. Nobody had any recollection of what any of us had just done. I thought that we had been on the stage for ten minutes, when in reality, it was over an hour.

I felt extremely energized after my experience. I also felt a little bit unsettled. I couldn’t remember everything that I’d done that night. Overall, it was a good experience and I would do it again.