As a high school senior in my second semester, I’m at the point where I don’t care about anything that has to do with school anymore. I don’t do my assignments, I never get homework done, I haven’t studied for a test in a month, and half the time I’m thinking “ Why am I even in school?”
But despite that, there is one thing left at this school that I care about, one thing that will bother me until my dying breath unless I say something–the single door at the top of the fourth-floor staircase.
For four years, that diabolical violation of basic human walking rights–and probably many building codes–has been the bane of my existence. Every time I have to go to a class on the fourth floor I deal with a traffic jam of students and faculty alike suffering from the one-way traffic on a two-way street. Despite never having more than one class a semester that puts me in the path of this anomaly of our hallways, I consistently find a single encounter enough to ruin my day. Each pass is a moral dilemma whether to forfeit my path for the benefit of others’ travels or march on boldly and risk collision with an equal adversary in a doorway not big enough for both of us.
It’s not like our school is lacking in double-wide doorways, they are everywhere -exits, entrances, other stairwells, even some classrooms. This is a rare instance of insufficient use of door space. It is only comparable to the pointless 1 ½ doors off the Main Street into the drama hallway, but even those are an improvement on our current situation.
Not only is it a problem during passing time, but what about fire drills? That staircase is a primary exit path for many students during evacuation and could cause serious danger in the event of an actual emergency.
So, who’s to blame for this abomination, you might ask? It has to be someone. Was it the architect who made a simple mistake, possibly unaware of the sheer amount of foot traffic this door would see daily? Maybe some of the construction workers? Possibly too tired to lug a large double door up the three flights of stairs that students trudge through multiple times a day. That would be understandable.
I have spent my four long years here pondering over this impossible question, but am yet to find a plausible explanation for who would plan for such an inconvenience. I think the truth is whoever built this building, whoever planned out our halls, whoever put together the confinements of this school–they wanted us to struggle. They thought, “Hey, High School isn’t hard enough–let’s make walking harder too.”
I have had enough, it’s time the school breaks down the door and puts in a proper double door, to let students walk freely . If that were to happen, I could graduate in peace.
