Photo courtesy of MCT Campus

The warning bell would make my life a lot easier.

For years, students at Santaluces have relied on the warning bell to let them know if they’re running late to class. This year is completely different, because not only do we have less time than last year to get to class, but we also have no warning bell.

These changes wouldn’t necessarily be a problem for me if they weren’t all happening at the same time. I am a creature of habit and change is a hard adjustment for me. I understand that these changes will still happen, but I don’t understand why they have to be so stressful.

I have one question. How exactly am I supposed to know if I’m running late if there’s no signal that I am running late?

I have classes from the middle of the 1000 building to the end of the 8000 building. I could get that walk done in five minutes, if I just knew when I had to rush. But since there is no warning bell, I’m stuck estimating my time. Which so far, every day I’ve been wrong.

Sadly, not only do I walk like a zombie, I also have zero ability to keep track of time. That’s what made the warning bell so great. It was a kick in the butt to get me moving, and without it I walk like I’m an extra in the show The Walking Dead.

It’s bad enough that as a senior I’m stressing over things like college applications, getting my car, and fighting an ongoing battle of senioritis, but now I’m worrying about being tardy.

I’m so paranoid that I’ll be late that I don’t use my locker in between class. When am I going to have the time to put my stuff away? Since I don’t want to risk being late, I’m stuck carrying three textbooks and multiple binders with me to every class. The good news is I don’t have to worry about lifting weights at the gym, I’ll get plenty of muscle through the books I have to carry.

I don’t even bother thinking about going to the bathroom.

Since students must wait 10 minutes after class has started and the last 10 minutes are off limits for bathroom trips, this leaves me with a 30 minute window to use the restroom. However, if I do use the restroom during class, I take the risk of missing something important, like a test date or classwork, which would all leave me stuck behind in that class all because there’s no time for me to use the restroom during class.

I didn’t think a single minute or a bell would impact my life so much and make me stress out, but then again I used to think that the warning bell sounded obnoxious.