Announcements are over, advisory discussions have fizzled out, and one by one students begin trickling into the hallway on the third floor of Donnelly Hall. Some girls extract notebooks or lunches from their lockers, but most head for the sets of stairs at both ends of the hall to begin the trek down to the Commons. However, students at both ends of the hallway are halted mid-trek. The girls are met by teachers passing on friendly reminders that the clock has not yet struck 11 a.m., meaning that the students still have another 5 minutes to wait. Stomachs grumble, hands fidget and the annoyance is palpable. If these guardians of the schedule were not there, the students wouldn’t be either.

Aug. 18 more than 500 girls returned to campus with heavy backpacks, stories of summer, and as every year a barrage of criticisms and complaints about the newest changes to the academy. Skirt length, hair rules and construction were unsurprisingly points of discussion and objection. However, it was surprising that what students complained about most was not actually a new change. In fact, it is something that has been fairly standard at STA for quite some time.

Waiting for advisory period to end before leaving for first activity has been deemed by many a Star as “stupid” or “unfair.” So most of STA has been divided into three groups: those who complain about it, those who disregard it, and those who do both. Some advisors try and fight such student rebellion by not allowing their advisees to leave their classroom until advisory period is over. Some have even began handing out SBRs to those girls who ignore this rule. However, some advisors fall on the opposite end of the spectrum and allow their students to leave as soon as the announcements are over.

With such disunity between advisories, it is not shocking that some girls consider waiting for the bell unfair. One advisor’s apathy for the rules should not allow some students to leave before others. But it happens. So, many students have taken the situation into their own hands by dismissing themselves from advisory period whenever they feel like leaving. This, in turn, leads to more unfairness for the students who stay in their advisories as they are supposed to.

The loudest shouts of “Unfair!” come from the students with advisories on the third floor of Donnelly. Not only are their exits blocked, but due to distance they have the greatest disadvantage in the daily race for microwaves and good lunch tables. While their complaints are understandable, rules are still rules, and breaking them is still SBR-worthy. We have eight other periods a day, and in these class periods it is understood that students will not leave until the bell rings. If a student in a class on the third floor of Donnelly has a class in the basement of M&A next, it is not acceptable for her to leave class five minutes early to get a good desk. Why, then, is it acceptable for students to leave advisory period early? Despite certain distance disadvantages, it isn’t.

Even though the current method of dismissing to first activity seems unfair now, if everyone can just commit to doing what we were supposed to have been doing already, it wouldn’t have to be that way. Yes, Donnelly kids would still have a slightly further distance to travel, but I think that they could learn to cope with the 180 second disadvantage. Staying in your advisory when you are supposed to doesn’t have to be a bad thing or something to dread. Advisories were designed so that students could have a small break from academic stresses and get to know or find support in girls from all four grade levels. So, use your advisory period to your advantage. Get to know your fellow advisees. Or, if that doesn’t suit you, stay for the full advisory period because you know that is what you are supposed to do. Staying for the full advisory period is a simple expectation, and we should all be responsible enough to live up to it.

How to kill time in advisory before the bell rings:

1) Take a post-announcement catnap.

2) Ask your fellow advisees a ridiculous hypothetical question, such as, “If you had to get a tattoo of any cartoon character from your childhood which would you choose?”

3) Start a staring contest with the clock.

4) Play a giant game of hang man with your entire advisory.

5) Start an advisory discussion on the pros and cons of Justin Beiber.