It’s 1:40 on a Thursday afternoon in the classroom building. Class just ended so it’s time for your daily dash to the ULab. You leave your English class and hastily walk toward the language hallway. You encounter an obstacle. A group of middle schoolers fill up the whole space gleefully talking to each other, blissfully unaware of the space they take up and the backup of students waiting behind them. You ask them to move, but they don’t. You raise your voice; nothing happens. You resort to pushing through the group. It’s now 1:41.

Your next obstacle is a group of juniors and seniors waiting for their teacher to open their Spanish classroom. This group is easier to get around. You make your ways up the stairs. It’s now 1:43.

You get to the doors by Founders Hall, you see the light at the end of the tunnel. You’ve made it. But you’re once again delayed as students from the outside flood into the one open door. It’s 1:44.

You made it to your class in the ULab at 1:47; luckily your teacher was lenient and understood today.

In my six years at University Prep, the hallways have always been difficult to navigate. This has constantly plagued the community and has caused students to be late.

There are two main issues: groups of people stand in clumps talking while they wait for their classroom to open, and too many students walk on the left side of the hallway.

The clump of students that spend time before class chatting with each other often take up most of the space in the hallway. It is most prevalent around the English classrooms. Students lack the self-awareness to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around them and that their actions might inconvenience others.

The simple fix is for them to hug the wall, stay out of the way while they talk to each other. They need to be more mindful and respectful of others and notice the space that they take up.

Another common occurrence is students walking together taking up the whole width of the hallway.

Obviously, students want to have conversations with each other, and that’s easiest when walking side-by-side. That unfortunately makes it more difficult for everyone else to go about their day.

The solution is again simple. Walk single file, wait until you get where you’re going to talk with each other, or just talk to each other while one is behind the other. Don’t take up the entire space; we’d all like to use it.