Hallways--Jossalyn Jensen

The “hallways” of Merit College Preparatory Academy are extremely unique and have hosted a number of activities during Merit’s first year.
For starters, the “hallways” are outdoor because our classrooms are portable due to the fact that our school was still being built while we studied and learned (or at least attended school) on site. Sometimes you had to be careful when walking to your next class because of a football that might happen to fly your way from the hands of our many sports lovers who enjoyed practicing their skills during school hours. Or the object to dodge might be a snowball when Utah winter weather was predictable or Utah spring weather was predictably unpredictable. Sometimes lacrosse was played during lunch by our lacrosse fans. Rugby balls were also common due to the large number of rugby players from the local team that attend our school.
However, dodging balls is not the only activity that happens in Merit’s “hallways.” The “hallways” have also been the site of school fundraisers, parties, dances, random tackles between our energetic male freshman, hanging out with friends, waiting for parents to pick up, and the show of affection by certain students that happen to be in relationships. Some students even brought bikes or scooters.
A more common mode of transportation however was longboards and skateboards. Overall students really enjoyed the atmosphere of our “hallways” and the “chill” way in which we can all interact without having to feel cramped and claustrophobic. Sometimes our “hallways” were empty during lunch because of a foot of frozen H2O that was never scraped off after weeks of the snow that never stopped falling or maybe a spring day that started off beautiful and sunny then turned bone chillingly windy or sometimes even snowy. This caused sophomore John Southworth to complain about the day that “there was a blizzard and [he] had to get lunch in the storm.” Junior Aubrey Royall also complained about some of her experiences saying, “It was freezing and we had to walk to class. It sucked.”
Despite the complaints, overall everyone enjoyed our hallways even if it’s just because you can get a breath of fresh air before going to your next class. Our outdoor hallways also served as our gym, hosting PE activities. Some activities that students like sophomore John Southworth liked to do in Merit’s “hallways” were “talking to friends and eating lunch when the weather is good.” Junior Chelsea Allen added, “When you go into the hallways and you see everyone around, it makes the atmosphere feel more like a school.” Freshman Asher Chapman contributed that his favorite part of the atmosphere is that “everybody is nice.” The most common descriptions of Merit hallways are: Big, busy, hot and cold, muddy, large, natural, outdoorsy, and chill. In response to a question asking what he enjoyed about our hallways, sophomore Carver Davis said, “I like it. It’s open and I can go out and get fresh air.”
Most students really liked our school, its atmosphere, and our “hallways” and many are planning to attend next year even though our hallways will be real.