While my doctor told me I needed another surgery in August of last year, a feeling of nerves overwhelmed me as I began to imagine myself using crutches around the maze of this school. I had seen others use them, but never thought I would have to crutch around the school again.
When I had my first two surgeries, I was going into sixth grade and at the beginning of the school year in seventh grade. The school was much smaller, and there was less ground I had to cover in a longer amount of time. I wasn’t afraid to leave class five minutes early in middle school, because all of the topics we were learning were not as important compared to the lessons that are being taught in high school. While missing class for injuries is an issue throughout, the more common experiences of being on crutches or in a wheelchair at this school are problems that need to be brought into discussion.
While my experience differs from others, not being able to walk into the school made my regular school day increasingly harder. On my first day back from school I had my dad drive me to the student drop-off line. I got out of the car and crutched my way up the steep hill to get to the main doors. From there, I made my way to the front office to get my elevator key, and once I did, I slowly made my way to the elevator closest to my classroom. This elevator is down a long hallway, so every day, before school and after school, I crutched my way up and down this hallway to get to my classes as fast as I could. There are two total elevators in this school, one by the front office, most used by building service, and one elevator by the pillars, the one most frequently used by those who are injured.
Before I even began using crutches and became non-weight bearing, there were consistently students getting stuck in the elevator, missing class because the elevator froze or would not let them out. The elevators pose an important issue, with the lack of accessibility and outdated mechanics of elevators.
In any serious emergency, there is an evacuation plan for students to calmly file out of the school. During this time, elevators are not meant to be in use. The day I made my way back into the building, a bomb threat occurred. Although it was determined to be a false threat, I still had to make my way from the second floor of the school to the back of the baseball field. Students were swarming to leave the school, and I had to slowly crutch myself down two whole flights of stairs, surrounded by students anxious to get to safety. There is no clear safe plan for injured or handicapped students to be put into safer conditions, and with the fact that there is only one wheelchair ramp located by the pillars, there is no accessibility for students.
The hallways are not just crowded during emergencies, however. Halls fill within five seconds of the bell ringing, and while there is an option to leave five minutes before the bell rings, this is not always feasible for students who have a harder course load.
My time on crutches is different than other students’ situations, however, the one thing almost all of us have in common is the difficulty of getting around the school. When walking in the hallways, or blocking the flow of traffic, next time be more aware of the students surrounding you, because I can guarantee that if you make an effort to move or help the student even a little, it might just make their time at this school a little easier.
