It is a Monday, the beginning of the week, and senior Michael Roeser has to worry about his grades, extracurricular, and social life. Although he has so much going on, he has only one thing on his mind when he walks into his first period Myth and Mind English class: being comfortable for the next 40 minutes.
While the optimal level of comfort is generally up to the person, for many students, such as Roeser, deciding comfort level generally comes down to which desks are available.
“I always make sure to get to my first period class early, so I can rearrange the seats before anyone gets mad at me,” said Roeser.
“With all the different types of desks available at New Trier, there are a lot of combinations of desks around you, and that can make or break the next 40 minutes of your life.”
For Roeser and many other students who have this struggle, there is a set formula of which desks provide maximum comfort. Ryan Hartigan, another right handed senior, has devised the perfect procedure that makes him happy while in class.
“I couldn’t help but notice how important the desks around me affected my work,” Hartigan said. “And I knew that I could find a way to keep my happiness as consistent as possible.”
In the average classroom, there are four different types of desks. The standard desk, which is very popular, is consistent, with a footrest to allow elevation of the feet.
Another type of desk is an older, smaller version, which has the same qualities as a standard desk, except that these desks are noticeably older, smaller, more wobbly, and have years of wear and tear on them. “For me, it isn’t the worst outcome if I land an older desk, but it shouldn’t even be in the same discussion for whether it is better than a standard desk or not,” explained Roeser.
Although many students agree with the pros and cons of the previous two desks, there is one desk that has many sides to the argument: the “standard” desk without the footrest. For people who have to sit behind this type of desk, it might seem like a period of torture, with nowhere to tap their feet. For the person who is sitting in the actual seat, it is a great way to avoid having the kid sitting behind shake the actual desk by not letting the person tap their feet repeatedly on the foot rest.
While all of these desks have their pros and cons, no desk attracts more controversy than the large desks that are without armrests or footrests. This desk, which is very rare, causes Roeser to rearrange an entire room if he realized that will be his spot for the next 40 minutes.
Chloe Brittingham, a senior, was able to sum up her feelings on the large desk in one sentence. “They just don’t fit in, they are weird,” Junior Lauren Delfs takes advantage of these desks by using all of the space that comes with its table top. Delfs said, “I like the big work space.”
Another problem with these large desks is the unusual amount of space between their chair and the top of the desk. Sofia Bazianos, a senior who experiences this problem very often, said, “It’s really aggravating and uncomfortable. The awkward amount of room must be bad for a kid’s posture too, but at least there is a lot of room.”
William Errath, a senior, said, “After a kid experiences what it is like to go a full period without an armrest, that is how I feel every day of my life here at New Trier.”
Errath hopes everyone experiences what it is like to go through a class without an arm rest so his peers can sympathize for him for once.
New Trier’s diversity of desks tends to cause people to worry about where they sit more than ever. This adds more stress for the average Trevian.