Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had a fascination with locks. I spent hours as a child playing all sorts of games involving locks including playing hotel, and even pretending to lock my toy cars. Locks are a universal symbol of safety.

Locks provide security for our homes, offices, cars and even the storage units we keep our old junk in. We use them every day, especially here on campus. Even our key fobs are used to unlock specific doors on campus. It’s because of this childhood fascination and general appreciation for safety that I ventured to the locksmith shop on campus to learn more about how the campus keeps us safe.

At the locksmith’s shop, I met with North Dakota State’s locksmith, Bob Peterson, to learn more about the complex system of locks here on campus. Peterson has been working as a locksmith here on campus for the past 43 years and has plenty of experience with different types of locks.

When he first started working here in 1973, Peterson said there was a wide variety of locks on campus including skeleton key locks. Since then, the campus has cut down to just two types of locks, Best locks and Schlage locks.

While spending time with Peterson, he showed me how they make the inner mechanisms of the lock. The inner parts are called the core and are what make each lock unique.

In order to make each lock different, they use a complex system of algorithms, which involve using pins and master pins to create the unique interior of each lock. The pins are rounded at the bottom, which allows the key to slide in and out of the lock with ease. The master pins rest on top of the pins, allowing multiple keys to open the same lock.

These master pins are what give us the ability to open the suite doors in the high rise residence halls with different keys while having different locks between the two rooms on the inside. Thanks to the master pins, we don’t have to worry about coming home to find a wayward drunk suitemate sleeping in our beds.

Until this experience, I never fully grasped the complexity of the lock system. Thanks to Peterson, I now have a better understanding of the security measures the campus uses to keep us safe.

Editor’s Note: “Andrew’s Adventures” is a monthly column featuring the experiences of the author as he explores the world outside of his daily routine.