A Day in the Life of an Overcrowded School

In the huge ocean that is MacArthur, I as a senior anticipated being at the top of the food chain; the shark, the biggest and most dominant of all. My realities came up short however, when I noticed the turnout of students that showed up on the first day, noticeably the incoming freshmen class. Wow, this literally is a sea of fish, I thought to myself. I didn’t exactly know how I was going to fare with such a surplus of underclassmen.

Not that I hold grudges against younger individuals; some of my closest friends aren’t seniors.  It was astonishing to find out that MacArthur acquired so many people for the new school year. Unfortunately I had no control of this matter.

The outcome of this overpopulation of pupils didn’t really affect me personally until I noticed the crowding in the hallways, and more notably the staircases, during passing periods. It’s already bad enough our allotted time reduced because of the new seven period schedule, but to see a lot of people barely move during those five given minutes is complete insanity. Although my experience behind the wheel is fresh, I feel as if though I’m stuck in traffic on Loop 1604 or IH 35 South every time I approach the B/C stairwell. Even the faculty and staff are aware of the situation, and just recently, a proposal was made designating which direction students should take to each staircase. This experiment better make things easier, I thought after hearing the announcement. How the result should turn out, I don’t really know, but it’s definitely going to take a few weeks to adjust to.

It’s not just the intersections between wings that are hit with a swarm of students, the bus area is notorious as well. When I’m there waiting for the elongated taxi, I observe the hysteria of the environment around me. Constant pushing and shoving are normal actions as the average kid rushes to their specific ride home. It’s a shame to see not only myself, but others who are in the same boat, frequently fall victim to all the physical anguish resulting from others’ impatience. What ever happened to common sense? And manners too, have they gone extinct?

As reasonable as it is to point the finger at the wave of people in the vicinity, it’s also immoral to act upon frustration. It’s through this value that I hope the rest of the student body comprehends. We can’t help but have so many aspiring scholars attend our campus, it’s a truth that is out of our reach to fix. In all retrospects, our diversity is what makes us MacArthur. We wouldn’t be “Big Blue” if we obtained a small student body, now wouldn’t we?