Two nights ago, I had the scariest dream ever. I dreamt that hurricane Irene came to Pittsburgh and sucked away all the Asians. But my whole room was left untouched - I did notice that my roommate Michael Chen was missing. After looking around my room, I went into the elevator to see the damage Irene had caused. Like usual, I clicked the Lobby button, hoping to actually get there. However, the elevator creaked and stopped. Suddenly, spiders (my least animal/bug) rushed in from all corners. Soon, I got buried under them. But as quickly as they appeared, they left even faster. The elevator doors opened and I was on top of the UPitt Cathedral. I started feeling woozy and fainted, falling off the edge of the building. Then, I woke up.
This dream is particularly interesting because it seems like all of your worst fears were realized.
I doubt that you have been in a hurricane or other natural disaster before, so the most recent headline news story rocked your dream world- giving you a new experience of horror. Because your roommate was missing and the lack of other people in the dream, I doubt that you like to be left alone. You were trapped in the elevator because you probably have a fear of tight spaces, and an immobile elevator is just about the tightest and scariest place to be stranded alone. Obviously spiders attacked you because as you explained, they are your least favorite bug. It's odd that you pressed the elevator to go down, but you wound up on top of the cathedral of learning. This is consistent with everything going wrong in your dream, even mechanical, inanimate objects. I'd also hypothesize that you're afraid of heights, because you feinted when you realized how high up you were.
I think Hurricane Irene probably symbolizes some type of chaos or uncertainty in your life; for example, if you are a freshman, college is an entirely new experience and you may feel overwhelmed by it. Furthermore, I find it interesting that you specifically mention the hurricane sucking away all the Asians--it seems to suggest you are familiar with Asians, so that action may imply a loss of familiarity. The fact that nothing in your room has changed may also suggest that you are not conscious of these uncertain feelings, but they are there. Being stuck in an elevator and getting buried by spiders also correspond with feeling overwhelmed. For instance, classes may be more difficult than you initially thought. Maybe your issue is not college, but whatever it is, you may feel like you are unable to handle everything that is going on, hence falling off the Cathedral. Basically there is probably something that is making you insecure and it is reflected in your dream.
I have similar dreams like that very often such as falling off the building, being isolated, and being locked in a room. Also I agree with Jonathan that it is all from your real fears. I learned that dream is all brainwork and you tend you dream about things that you think about a lot during the day. So this proves that we unconsciously think about our fears and they happen to appear in our dreams.
The beginning could be prompted by reading about Hurricane Irene and accounts of the destruction it caused, and fears of losing friends (in this case, your roommate). The torrent of spiders could indicate that you have latent arachnophobia which was combined with the hurricane in the dream by the similar fear both invoked. Possibly you have visited the Cathedral of Learning recently and it made an impression on you, which was incorporated into the dream with the fear of falling added to the other fears.
It seems that the beginning of the dream was prompted by the recent news of hurricane Irene. This could be a fear of losing someone you know to this or another natural disaster. The spiders seem to play on your fear of spiders and could have stemmed from that fear or something from your days events. The Cathedral part of your dream was probably you remembering it from the previous day or just incorporating a familiar site.
It's hard to interpret why all the Asians got sucked away in your dream. If your roommate was missing and you were in the room alone, that means you're not Asian so maybe you're not used to the diverse environment of CMU? I'm just making an assumption there. You used to elevator, even though you probably should have used the stairs because something bad always happens to the elevator when you're in a rush. I think the spiders were there because they're your least favorite; this dream seemed to be against you from every angle! It's weird how you pressed "Lobby" and you ended at the top of a completely different building. This might mean that you're not entirely used to college yet and there are signs of confusion. It could also be a recollection of something you saw recently. At the end, you fall. This might mean that you were feeling overwhelmed and wanted to take break from it all. Maybe you have a lot of work but you just want to rest?
That dream seems like it can explain a lot about you. It seems as if you had family that could have been affected by Irene but weren't. The fact that you were over encumbered by the spiders and than they disappeared just as quickly symbolized how worried you were about your family but everything turned out ok hence the disappearance of the spiders. All the stress from life had been released that very moment resulting into a free-fall of a weightless burden. That is how I interpret your dream.
