HERRIMAN — The leaves are changing, pumpkin spice is back, and Haunted Houses are opening their doors. That can only mean one thing, October is back. The Halloween season is festive and full of activities from beginning to end. Throughout October, many people will start telling scary stories or urban legends. Inside the halls at Herriman High, the legend of the middle door has been passed on for years, being kept alive by the student body. The legend says that if someone walks through the middle door when entering or exiting the school, they will be cursed with bad luck for the rest of the year. Many students believe this legend, taking it for fact, while others disregard this, saying that it’s just like any other door. The question remains, is the middle door bad luck? Or is it just a legend?
As a sophomore, one of the first things students are told is to never walk through the middle door. Many sophomores will take this as a joke and brush it off. When a string of bad luck enters their life however, they are quick to blame the middle door. From that point forward, they avoid the middle door and tell their friends about it, keeping the legend alive. The severity of the bad luck that people experience can vary as well, from something as small as getting a bad grade to something as extreme as a car crash. One thing that all the events have in common is that a student walked through the middle door.
With every believer in a legend, there will always be a skeptic. Even at Herriman High, some people believe that there is nothing wrong with the middle door. These students say that they have always walked through the middle door and have never had bad things happen to them. Emma Brewer, a student at Herriman High, is one of these skeptics. “I don’t believe it brings bad luck.” Brewer said. Emma is a standout player for the Herriman Women’s Volleyball team, leading the team in blocks per game. Does this prove that walking through the middle door is not bad luck? Or is Emma one of the lucky ones who got away?
The exact origin of the middle door legend is unknown. Some believe that it was started by the football team while others believe it was started by the marching band. Even though no one knows who truly started the legend, many students at Herriman High treat this legend as fact, making sure they never walk through the middle door. One example of students taking this legend as fact is the lacrosse team. Before every season, the seniors on the team make sure to tell every freshman that they can not walk through the middle door. The legend is taken seriously by the team because one game a player walked through the middle door and during the game, the same player broke his arm. Ever since then, the team has made it a priority to never walk through the middle door again.
