As students walk through the John’s Hall common areas, to the isolated rooms at the end of the hallways, they listen to the chatter of fellow scholars. The tables sit in a large, hollow rectangle, with lightly colored rolling chairs scattered neatly and compactly.

 

 

Some students sit with their backs to the large semi-circle windows, their eyes transfixed as the professor's lectures. These students sit between two graying fake plants, staring at the political science awards adorning the wall to the left, or trying to read the faded words on the whiteboard as they reflect with the projector’s light.
 

 

Others stare out through the sheer blinds glancing at the dirty white trucks as they come to a stop in front of the window as the teacher continues to lecture.

 

 

Students see all the same awards and faces, but they are exposed to the greater outside world, which calms them as they watch the fountains faintly blow mist in the Spring sun. 

 

 

As the landscaping crew pulled their gear outside of the truck making a big thud on the ground the teacher looked out the window and rolled his eyes and scowled down at the paper he was reading under his reading glasses.

 

 

Jenny, a senior at Furman university, describes one of her teachers even going outside to say something about the noise, “I really thought about the professor in that lecture hall. They got so mad about it and went outside and told them.”  

 

All the students in the classroom are aware of the faint bustling of the campus, but usually focus on the professor, or zone-out to the constant rattling of the air conditioner, or blinding hospital-like lights.

 

 

Inevitably the students facing the window mentally prepared to face the noisy leaf blowers and the grinding of the gears from the lawnmower as when they see landscaping crew's pull up in front of the large windows.

​

​

When the crew finally cranks up their leaf blowers, the students with their backs to the window physically jump, not expecting the surprise of the loud distracting machines blowing leaves away from their classroom. 

 

When asked how the students feel about the landscaping crew, Elijah, a student studying in the Furman Library between classes, responded that the noise only lasted around two minutes.

 

 

Furthering this conversation with him, he explained that he first hand experienced the noisy landscaping crew in John’s Hall, “I was probably a little frustrated that I couldn't learn, but I also know that, like, that's their job. and I don't want them to do that at, like, midnight, cause it might be hard.” This is important to note because while students are irritated with loud noises distracting their studies they are internally contrasted with compassion towards the landscaping crew, it does cause distraction within the learning environment.

 

 

While there are distractions that can come from outside the class, many are found directly at our fingertips. The electronic boxes that are glued to our bodies, the one thing that never truly leaves our side. With every ding the urge to indulge in the social world growing stronger and stronger.

 

 

According to EducationWeek, “About two-thirds of U.S. students reported that they get distracted by using digital devices, and about 54 percent said they get distracted by other students who are using those resources, the PISA results found.”

 

 

While distractions on a nationally ranked beautiful campus are inevitable, it should be within the universities top priority to make sure the learning at the institution is protected as the number one priority. On the contrary, students must uphold their end by respecting their education and continuing to find focus in the classroom.