Shelsea Deravil shderavil@ursinus.edu
The early morning noises outside of North Hall that I have been hearing since early October–e.g. the Sodexo food truck(s) for dining delivery, other non-food-related trucks, the ground maintenance/facilities’ golf carts and lawn mower vehicles–have been very obnoxious. Living on the first floor of North, facing New Hall and the football field, I am always awakened before 8 a.m. to these noises that go on past 10 a.m. It is a nonstop distraction; one truck leaves and another immediately returns and continues the ruckus. The noises are the main reason why I am constantly tired in the morning and begin my days a bit grumpy.
My dorm neighbor, Rachel Coleman ’21, is in agreement. The noise levels are just as disruptive for her as they are for me. However, she argues that the noisiest vehicles would be the large (un)loading delivery trucks. “When the loading trucks come in, they usually create the most amount of noise,” Rachel said. “UPS trucks, campus cars, or just students driving… often wakes me up if my window is slightly opened. [But] when my window is completely closed that’s only when I hear the loading trucks. The other vehicles I don’t particularly hear.” Sadly, I cannot entirely agree with that last statement. Any loud noise is bothersome to me; I hear them all even with a closed window. While Rachel has gotten used to the noises, and she can sleep through them now, my sleep continues to be interrupted.
Emily Cid ’21, who lives on the third floor of North, also dislikes the noises. “The food delivery trucks are pretty annoying because I get woken up early, around 5 a.m., and they stay there for a while,” she said. Whereas the “lawn mowing isn’t as bad because they are a little later, around 8 a.m. But I like to study in the morning and if I have the window open, I can hear them (the lawn care) and it’s distracting.”
Evidently, it does not matter which floor one is on. The distraction is all dependent on the amount and duration of the noises heard outside. Emily and Rachel make do by closing their windows. But both stated that the downside to that is living in a very hot room. When I close my window, I still hear the morning noises. I only leave my window open to let air breeze through my room and keep it smelling fresh. I just have to remember to close it at night, so as to avoid the next morning noises.
I wonder why the decision to start the ruckus was made in the middle of the semester. The constant maintenance noises are now an everyday thing. I understand that maintenance needs to be done on campus, but they have the whole day. Not all of it needs to be taken care of early in the morning, especially when some students are still asleep. As Emily worded it, “the lawn care is a little excessive, especially now that it’s cold. I don’t know why they’re still cutting the grass when it’s not growing anymore.”