One of our favorite things to do as Bonnies is to rave about how amazing we are. Always holding doors, smiling faces around every corner and a sense of community that is mentioned in seemingly every conversation are all hallmarks of the student body I have grown the love.
However, we are not without fault. What were once minor annoyances have grown to be much more bothersome over time. From someone whose time here at St. Bonaventure is rapidly coming to an end, I am asking us all to do just a little bit better.
First, for a group of individuals who love to complain about parking on campus, we are very bad at parking. Look no further than the parking lot by the Richter Center to see what I am convinced is some of the worst park jobs east of the Mississippi. I know there are no parking lines, but is it really that difficult to park close enough to the car next to you to allow space for more cars to fit?
Before leaving the topic of parking, the tennis court parking lot also falls victim to some particularly heinous examples of bad parking. You can only park your car in one direction in the tennis court parking lot. There is no pulling through, and there is no backing in. Nothing is worse than looking for parking on a cold, snowy night and seeing a car parked diagonally across three spots.
Moving from parking to the equally riveting topic of the library, it has and will always continue to baffle me how loud people can be while studying. Being excited about what you’re learning is awesome. I am sure your professors would love to hear that you are so passionately discussing academics, but is it really necessary to be speaking at full volume to someone sitting mere inches away from you? If you simply cannot contain your excitement, please sign out one of the available study rooms.
That nicely leads into my next grievance. You have to sign out study rooms in the library. Nothing is worse than signing out a study room and then finding someone already in it. Now I am in the awkward situation of either asking you to leave or having to look for a new space, even though I already have one reserved. This situation could be avoided every time if we all just signed out the rooms before using them.
This final problem teeters on the edge of annoying and dangerous, and it is the propping of townhouse doors. I understand it can be massively inconvenient to first retrieve the key to your townhouse and then have to place that key in the lock to open the door. Regardless, it is extremely dangerous. The murder of Jeanne Clery for which the Clery Act is named shows all too well that one propped door could be the difference between life and death.
I truly write this all with love. I would challenge anyone to find a group of more caring and genuine individuals anywhere else. However, albeit mostly minor qualms, we can do better, and I beg you on behalf of everyone: stop doing these things.
Sincerely,
Geoffrey
By Geoffrey Broadbent, Contributing Writer
broadbgp15@bonaventure.edu
