STANFORD, CA – It’s move in season at Stanford University. The air is ripe with the buzz of RAs introducing themselves, roommates reuniting, and, most importantly, ambitious undergraduates hoping to give their rooms some original flair by lofting their beds. Most bed-lofters take the opportunity to ask their friends and neighbors for assistance, often resulting in closer relationships supported by a common goal, but sophomore Reggie Henderson has pioneered a new method. “Yeah, after lofting my bed with just a belt, duct tape, and my own ingenuity, I realized I didn’t really need anyone else,” Henderson explained after showing off the extra space in his room, which he plans to maximize by creating a study nook.
“So this is how you do it,” Henderson continued completely unprompted, “instead of finding another person, all you have to do is find some duct tape. If you don’t have duct tape, just take some duct tape off the storage box that your mom packed for you before you left for school and tape the bolts inserted in one bedpost. Then you take the bed frame, line it up with the bolts, and shimmy over to the other side. That’s when you take out the other bolts that you conveniently put in your pocket earlier, did I forget to mention that? Because once you put the bed frame up on one side you can’t let go.”
Henderson went on for a while after that, clearly enjoying having someone to talk to for once. “I’m not saying having other people as friends and helpers is a bad thing,” Henderson adds. “All I’m saying is that duct tape and a belt are as good or better.”
In a school that almost exclusively encourages collaboration and community effort, Henderson’s story acts as a powerful example of what Stanford students can accomplish all by themselves.
