Courteous students make walks to class easier

By DELLA HETHCOX

You know what I love about University of Mary Washington students? I love their willingness to share. Couches, study rooms, computers, but most of all, the sidewalk. There has not been a day over the past four years when I have been body slammed by chicks and bros. Like the parting of the Red Sea, every student on this campus courteously stays to the right, ensuring that every student is able to use the sidewalk and not just a group of biddies and their Vera Bradley backpacks.

Every day I am able to walk to class and not have to yell “EXCUSE ME” or avoid an elbow to the kidney, or worse, having to step off the sidewalk into the muddy curbside. Even the hordes of jocks are polite and do not loiter on the sidewalk with their sweaty equipment.

But also the stairs! You will never see a student blocking the flow of pedestrian traffic by standing in the middle of the staircase, texting or chatting with a friend after class. I mean, who would actually do that when there are lounges conveniently placed throughout all the buildings on campus? UMW students are able to access the stairs unimpeded by their discourteous peers.

Also amazing about the students on this campus? The cycling ones. They would never dream of riding their bike on the sidewalk, since after all, they have the entire road. After all, didn’t we all take the same driver’s education classes in high school that reinforced the idea that bicycles are also vehicles and must be treated as such?

Cyclists wouldn’t dream of breaking the law and taking the sidewalk instead of the road. Oh no, we have the politest cyclists in the history of cyclists.

And while we are talking about manners, let us not forget the lovely students who always hold the door open or say ‘thank you’ when you do the same for them. This school is really so polite that some days it hurts me. The same goes for the students in the Dining Hall, the ones who do not linger in front of the dishwashers or block the amenities as they chat with friends or stand idly by with their smartphones.

Lastly, students share study spaces around campus like you would not believe. People might think we have personal space issues, but that is not the case. We are all quite happy to co-exist in a 5×5 space without feeling claustrophobic. Just ask any student in the Hurley Convergence Center!

UMW students just love sharing communal amenities.