What are we supposed to do at LCC?: Benches! We need more benches, LCC!

By Emmett Roman
Staff Reporter 

Benches. Benches. BENCHES. The more and more I become familiar with this campus, the more I keep questioning—where are we supposed to sit?

Last semester, I had my mythology class on the first floor of the Arts and Sciences Building. Our professor was always late, and most days, my classmates and I would be waiting in the hallway for ten minutes. There were only three benches, but the class had 30 students, so those seats filled up fast. These benches filled up fast. And, more times than I can count, most of my classmates and I would be either standing or sitting on the floor (which is gross, by the way), waiting for our professor.

Imagine walking past a classroom, and you see 30 students just standing outside, waiting. Then, they all stare at you as if it’s your fault that they’re waiting outside there. Then, imagine you’re that teacher who left those students waiting outside there for minutes. Talk about AWKWARD.

You could argue that three benches are a lot. However, with the size of those benches, it takes about three minutes for them to all be full of students. And I—along with so many other students—feel uncomfortable sitting next to other people that I don’t know. Like, please don’t sneeze on me. The only place left to sit is the floor. What if it was winter, and ice and salt were all over the floor? Not only would that be even more unsanitary, but now all of my clothes are wet. GROSS.

During my third semester at LCC, I had a class on the newly renovated third floor of the Gannon Building. Outside of my class, there were ZERO benches near the door to the class. If I want to just sit down on the third floor, I have to go all the way to the back of the third floor near the elevators. I was left with one option if I needed to sit: THE FLOOR.

We used to have benches near The Changemakers Center, but after renovations when they added bathrooms to the third floor, they removed the benches. Why did we do this, LCC? We can add a bathroom but we have to remove the benches located ACROSS FROM THE BATHROOM?

This may seem like a silly concern, but I cannot be the only one who wishes we had more places to sit and hang out. As the enrollment keeps increasing, the lack of places to sit is also increasing. We have lounges, sure, but they’re usually located away from where our classes are. So, I think I will be spending my free time off campus where I can actually sit down.

The views and opinions expressed in The Lookout are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of Lansing Community College.