So it would seem to be the ideal school—shiny computers, polished windows, brand-new everything and more. The Blue Valley Southwest “greatness” has been preached to those of us from Blue Valley West and Blue Valley High since the beginning of who knows when.

Now given the difficulties of starting at a new school, while perfectly content with an old one, shouldn’t the administration and teachers be just a tad bit more considerate? The least they can do is to help ease the already delicate transition for students from all schools and of all grades.

Even with the help of warning bells, the sprawled layout of Southwest essentially makes it impossible to arrive on time to class when traveling from one end of the school to lockers and then to another end. That is, without running. Haven’t we all been taught— “no running in the halls!”—since pre-school?

Not to mention getting stuck behind the always existent mob of ‘slow walkers’— a definite worst nightmare for every rushed student. In order to avoid unnecessary and redundant explanations to teachers, most students now choose to lug around three or four classes worth of textbooks, binders and supplemental ‘readers’ all day until lunch hits and a short, but much needed break, comes.

And then there’s the issue of the T-Wolf tickets from the science department. (For those not in a science class, only two T-Wolf tickets are issued per quarter for any late work, tardies, or restroom breaks). Needless to say, with the tremendously hurried passing periods, it’s as if there’s never any time to stop, even for the restroom. And does a meaningless, two-second tardy really need to result in the confiscation of another ticket? Requesting students not to go to the bathroom for eight hours on a daily basis seems like quite a frivolous idea.

Now, with the understanding of the purposes and needs of such restrictions, it’s easy to approve of them from an administrator’s point of view, trying to keep kids from skipping class or lingering in the hallways. But what do these limitations mean to students without bad intentions? It could very well be that slight changes to these regulations would result in a significantly happier student body and a less-stressed experience for merging West and Blue Valley individuals.