As the new school year begins each student is worried about their own school related problems. Freshman are worried about being in a new school, sophomores are worried about being underclassmen, juniors are worried about the SAT and ACT and seniors are worried about college applications and being accepted, but one topic that seemed to worry every student in the district over the summer was the addition of 15 extra minutes to each school day.

Personally, I was uneasy about the time addition. I was not excited to be waking up earlier and starting first period earlier- even if it was by a mere five minutes. I was not looking forward to being in school for longer, nor was I excited for getting home later in the afternoon. I was however, excited to have a longer summer vacation. With the addition of 15 minutes to each day the amount of days in the year was shortened.

Now the year is underway and the 15 minutes has not had as large an impact on my day as I first thought. I can’t find an actual problem with the new bell schedule- I actually like the new schedule more than the old one. Last school year, I had chemistry first period in the back hallway of the red wing, and teen leadership in the portables second period. With thousands of other students and faculty in the halls, five minutes was not enough time. This year my first period is in the math hallway closest to the auditorium and my second period is on the opposite side on the upper red wing. I was concerned about being tardy to that second period but the extra minute in the passing period enables me to be on time.

The new six minute passing period eliminates the opportunity to be tardy; less tardies means getting to keep your exemptions. While this new passing period is great, I do wish that they added some time to lunch, not only is lunch my time to talk and catch up with my friends, it is when I get to eat and not focus on copying the notes before my teacher changes the slide. Lunch is currently 30 minutes long, and by the time I walk from my class to the cafeteria, get through the lunch line and sit down to eat I have at most 15 minutes left to eat, talk and take care of other business that is only available during lunch. But we can’t have the best of both worlds so I guess if it comes down to it, I’d rather have the longer passing periods.

The extra 15 minutes has not presented itself as big of a deal as it was made out to be; it looks like we students were worried about nothing. The day still goes by in seven class periods and we all make it through the day. The longer days are not a bad thing, so why is it that we focused on the negatives instead of focusing on the positives? We get a longer summer break, and isn’t that what everybody in the building wants?