Everyday as students make their way to change for practice they are faced with the controversy of where to leave their school bags while they change. Most students bring their bags to the Johnson Center for Health and Wellness and when making their way downstairs to the locker rooms, they drop their bags in the nest, the common area of the building. As a student myself, I found the nest the most convenient place to store my things. Having to bring your bags all the way down to the locker room e and then after practice having to go downstairs to the locker room once again and then leaving is inconvenient for all students especially those who have limited time to catch a bus after sports.
Understandably, having a pile of bags in the center of the common place of the building is not ideal. It is inconvenient, and has led to many stolen items and is the main contributor to the growing lost and found in the Johnson Center. Recently they have implemented a new system to avoid students leaving their bag in the nest. There is now a security guard with a mega phone telling students to not leave their stuff in public areas, forcing them to leave it in the locker rooms.
So far this has seemed to work, but it still has some flaws. Some students have figured out by ignoring the threat that their stuff will not be there when they get back that it is an empty one, causing students to once again leave their stuff in the nest. Additionally, having someone yelling into a megaphone is not a perfect idea ethier.
During the winter season there has been a simple solution to the problem, bring your bags to where you practice. It is simple as you know where your stuff is and convenient as post practice you can leave from where you are without having to go down stairs to retrieve your belongings. As a member of the girls jv basketball team, I know we have been bringing our bags into the gym while we practice, which works out perfectly. During the swim season leaving their bags in the locker rooms is convenient for swimmers since it is beside the pool and they need to go there anyway. As for other sports, squash players bring their stuff to the court’s benches while they practice and fencers can put their bags in a corner of the fencing studio while they practice. However I am not sure where the indoor track team can leave their stuff as they typically practice outside, which brings about the next problem.
What will we do when the spring season comes around and student athletes will begin to practice outside again. The layout of the Johnson Center and the inconvenient location of the locker rooms have brought about many problems for student athletes trying to find a place to leave their things while they commence in practice. Trips back and forth to the locker rooms are inconvenient, the previous situation with the nest was an issue due to theft and spacing, and the new solution is only temporary as the location of practices will soon change.
