NINTH BAND has just ended and classical music is blasting through the school. Harrisites are often in a hurry to get to their locker and take out or put in necessary books and jackets. Lockers are found on almost every floor and some are decorated with personal pictures and notes, whereas others don’t even have locks. Lockers, as staff and students at Townsend Harris have implied, are as advantageous as you make them.

Sophomore Iffat Astha views her locker as a necessary part of THHS life, as she visits her locker before first band, during lunch, and after school. She discussed, “I split up the books I need before my lunch band and books I need after, so I don’t have to carry all of them at the same time. Also, I can leave things I don’t need to take home, so my back is very thankful.” She does, however, wish she is granted more locker usage time, stating “there are some times my locker refuses to open and by the time it does open, a teacher is already there yelling at you to get to lunch.” Iffat used her locker during her freshman year as well, but she thought “it was more annoying then since it was on the sixth floor.”

Freshman Kathy Ling goes to her locker almost every day to store her dictionary and Regents book. She thinks that lockers have made her life at THHS easier, but goes on to say that “freshmen have the worst floor [since] it is so far away.” Kathy struggles to “reach the jacket hook in [her] locker,” as she has the top locker.

Junior Yuriy Markovetskiy thinks lockers are essential, especially since he partakes in after-school activities and cannot carry all those things at once. He stated, “I use my locker every single day… I have to keep my dance things in there. My locker usually consists of my dance pants, shirt, and shoes, a coat and scarf, couple textbooks and books for English class, THHS newspapers that I keep, and a Power Ranger Mask that was supposed to be used for SING! but wasn’t.”  He went on to explain, “I don’t decorate my locker because I am probably too lazy, but I think I might start decorating it soon to distinguish my locker from others.”

While many underclassmen enjoy having a locker, most seniors do not have a locker of their own and are required to share with another student.

Senior Ali Chebli shared his thoughts on this, describing how he “doesn’t mind sharing with another Townsend student.” In his opinion, “It’s actually a cool way to interact with someone you don’t know and just got paired with.” He puts “mostly books in [his] locker, along with a jacket and an occasional snack.” He has yet to decorate his locker, but if he does, “it shall be of Arsenal and Mesut Ozil.”

On the other hand, some Harrisites do not find lockers helpful at all.

For instance, Annie Chu, a freshman, visits her locker only once every two to three weeks. She barely uses it because “it’s all the way on the sixth floor,” and she feels that it is not worth the walk up. She doesn’t put her jacket in her locker as well and explains that her “jacket is one of those [things] that can fit into a really small container.”

Joice Im, a senior, is in a sticky situation with her locker. She explained how she lost the key to her lock and can no longer access it. “But before that, I would use it quite often, especially to store away my textbooks after the class was over, as well as big things like jackets and duffel bags and such,” she added. On the subject of locker decorating, Joice explains, “I only would for hall decorating but other than that, nope.”

More often than not, students seemed to have one common complaint – not enough “locker time.”

As a response, Physical Education teacher and Dean Robin Figelman said, “No compromise can be provided for this. My tip is to stop talking to your friends and move faster. With less chit-chat, you would have enough time to use your lockers.”

She also adds how she refuses to give referrals for using lockers at the wrong time, but still feels that students do not need more than five minutes for going to their lockers.

Ms. Figelman explained that seniors have lockers on the third (and most easily accessible) floor due to seniority and that students, in general, should be grateful for lockers. Regarding how seniors generally must share lockers with a classmate, she feels that it is not a big deal and there is nothing else seniors can do, as adding lockers is not an available option. She stressed the fact that everyone needs to lock up their belongings.

Lockers are a major part of a Harrisite’s lifestyle. It is no surprise that students have no choice but to carry binders, textbooks, electronics, and other necessities.

Thus, without these lockers, many students’ bookbags would be much more bulky and their backs would be in constant pain. Overall, students understand this and agree that lockers are a beneficial factor to their student life.