There are many things that people find frustrating about their high school experience, and one thing that an introvert such as myself finds difficult is getting around the halls. If you’re anything like me, being around the large group of people that occupies the halls is an awkward and sometimes frightening experience in and of itself, but being forced to talk to or even physically bumping into other people makes it even more annoying. Some of the worst offenders are the students who stand at the very top or even middle of the stairwells.

You may find them before school, at lunch, or even between classes, but the people standing in and blocking off the stairwells inhibit the traffic jam the hallways become during these times even further. It not only bottlenecks traffic to a single half of the stairwell, making it more crowded and difficult to get around, it can also lead to unwanted and even downright awkward social interaction. Some are “courteous” enough to leave a small path through the middle of the group, but even then it leads to feeling awkward and disruptive, especially if they’re having a conversation while you walk through.

Some people also tend to stop and group up with their friends in the hallways which slows things further. I understand being excited to see your friend or significant other, but people are trying to get through. This can slow things to an absurd halt as everyone slowly but surely makes their way around Romeo and Juliet over there, who just made me late to class because of the route I had to make around them.

There are ways to fix this, but it’s completely up to students to fix the issue, because any administrative fix that the school implements would lead to some draconian hallway rules at best. The main way to fix this is to realize that there are people around you trying to make their way where they need to be too. Your love story can wait until you’re not in the middle of the hallway everyone is trying to get through. You’re no more important than the other people traversing the halls, so why act like you are and slow the progress of everyone else? What this boils down to is don’t be a jerk, everyone around you is just trying to make their way around. You can at least make your way to an area that’s not directly in everyone else’s footpath before stopping and beginning your conversation about which melon is best or whatever people talk about when stopped in the middle of the hallway. It would make things easier for those around you and I feel we would see that getting around the halls is a lot less slow and crowded for everyone.