With a new school year comes a new schedule, and with a new schedule comes new bones to pick. I myself have numerous complaints about the schedule—many of which have to do with the lunch period—but one complaint many students have recently expressed, which I do not understand is the five-minute transition period.

Many say that five minutes is far too short to get from one place to another, but I must disagree. As a junior, I’ve at this point mostly memorized the layout of the school’s three buildings while our freshmen and sophomores might not be as familiar with its layout. I find it easy to navigate the campus and take the most optimal route to my next class, usually getting there before my teacher does. 

Some students’ complaints are more centered around fitting bathroom breaks into the transition period as well; this I can understand a bit better. Usually, what I do is go straight to the classroom, leave my stuff in there so my teacher knows I’m not late in case time does run over, and then go to the bathroom. I’m usually able to get back to class before attendance is taken, give or take a minute.

Ultimately, I think the student body’s complaints are simply growing pains, and as everyone gets better at navigating the school, these complaints will lessen. I think 10- or 15-minute breaks will waste excessive time during the school day and cause students to be just a bit too idle.