[media-credit name=”Mary York, News Editor” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]We all have different tastes, but no one wants to have anything shoved down their throats or their ears. Outer classrooms at Southwestern College are bombarded noise pollution, as cars pass the open doors with music at high volumes.

Whether it be Mozart, LMFAO, or System of a Down, if it is played too loud, it is not just music anymore, it is a distraction from the focus of both students and professors alike. Students on campus fail to understand that SWC is not a truck stop. Sitting in one place waiting for somebody to get out of class is as distracting as walking into the class and grabbing them by their hair and pulling them out of their chairs.

Imagine sitting in class taking a final exam, and all the sudden out of the corner a catchy song comes on, taking your focus off of the exam and away from the class. Rather than focusing on the test, students are fixed on who is driving that car and why he or she is being inconsiderate to the surroundings around them.

Not only students are affected by such a disruption, faculty are as well. Trying to teach a class while a car playing some extremely loud music is difficult, with all the distractions already on campus. Teachers have to really try and keep students attention.

Students on campus playing loud music are looking rather posh or arrogant instead of coming off as the alpha-male. Inconsiderate of their surroundings and of their fellow students. A more appropriate place to play that noise would be a place that nobody can hear it, perhaps the middle of a desert. Not everybody enjoys listening to the same types of music.

An array of culture brings the students together at SWC, but what makes students unique are the varying personalities. Each student has their own taste of music, their own way of living. Forcing one to listen to a style of music causing discomfort is not something that makes the college experience memorable or enjoyable, to say the least. To one student techno is the sound of their soul, to the same student hard rock or Metallica sounds like a cat nails angrily attacking a chalkboard.

If one must play the music at an extreme volume, then perhaps rolling up the windows would offer some quiet time at school. Music is therapeutic, meant to be an escape, but how far can a student run to get away from the noise when he is taking an exam. Be considerate of the teachers trying to teach a class, instructing students during a lesson and not disrupt them with loud music outside. Even with the classroom door closed, the music can still be heard. Schools teach students a lot of lessons, but a lesson that cannot be taught in a class room is treating others as you would like to be treated. Treat fellow students with respect, let the ones that are here to learn, take in all they can, because for many students on campus, that one math class may be their last chance at a good education.