Lily Terhune

September 29, 2014

ENGL 1100, Writing Skills Workshop

Professor Young

Community Essay

Doing work in your dorm room at Fairleigh Dickinson may be hard because of the noise coming from other rooms. Students may be playing music very loudly, or hanging out with a lot of people in their rooms causes a distraction. The sound of music when you are trying to work is like the sound of bees buzzing around your head.  It is a huge distraction that you may not be able to control. Although we have a library easily accessible, sometimes doing homework or studying in a dorm room is preferred. In Valerie Kinloch’s essay, “Harlem, Art and Literacy and Documenting ‘Harlem is Art’/ “Harlem as Art”, the problem in Phillip and Khaleeq’s community is that Harlem is being denitrified. Although their issue is on a different level of seriousness than mine, loudness in the dorms can pose many problems for students at Fairleigh Dickinson. 

Kinloch talks about Harlem as a place full of art. From the buildings to the people on the walking and talking on the street, it is all art whether they know it or not. Although, the art is slowly being taken away by gentrification. Whiteification is happening and new buildings and stores are being built, taking away from the old Harlem. Big chain stores like Old Navy are being built in place of little independently owned stores. The buildings are turning from projects with fire escapes running up and down the buildings to beautiful buildings with balconies. They try to embrace the old art of Harlem, yet find it hard because of the many new things rebuilt in place of the old. This a bigger problem for Phillip and Khaleeq compared to my problem in my community. My problem consists inside of my dorm building, where I live and spend most of my time. 

Quiet hours were constructed to make it easier for students to sleep  without being interrupted. Finding time thats quiet during the day to study or do homework is a problem; therefore it would be helpful and beneficial for students if daytime quiet hours were made. Silence is necessary for students to get work done efficiently. We are able to focus on our work more without any distractions. Without silence, our work can be put off causing students to procrastinate often. With a lot of noise, students might wait until its quieter and never get their work done on time.

Students also need silence in the dorms to get sleep or to take naps. Most college students will be up late at night doing work so naps are crucial for college students. Sleep affects our stress level, G.P.A, and the efficiency of our work. Sleep is important for our health. Lack of sleep can really affect student’s academic performance. 

Fairleigh Dickinson is a beautiful campus in Madison, New Jersey. It has trees that reach up to the sky. The buildings are old and beautiful, giving meaning to the campus. Theres always students everywhere, either in the dorms or on the big open lawn spaces. Like Kinloch’s essay about Harlem, the scenery in both Harlem and Fairleigh Dickinson plays a big part of the community. The amount of students that hangout in their dorms can cause the problem of it being hard to study during the day. The noise coming from the rooms can be so loud at times that doing work or studying is tough. This problem has been ongoing for a while now I assume. Although there are quiet hours, they are only at nighttime on Sunday to Thursday from 8pm-10 am and Friday and Saturday from 12 am to 10 am.

If students use Ihomes or speakers to play music the music can be heard from one room to another. Especially if the music is being played loud, it can be a distraction to the other rooms close by. If a student is trying to study for a test, doing work can be as hard as trying to do work in a room full of people. If quiet hours during the day were implicated, it would benefit students who try to get work done in their dorm rooms during the day. Quiet hours from the hours of 2pm to 4 pm would be perfect for students. 

Is this a problem for all students? Are students having trouble studying in their dorms? In Kinloch’s essay, “Harlem, Art and Literacy and Documenting ‘Harlem is Art’/ “Harlem as Art”, may people were not standing up to present the problems of Harlem being denitrified. If students do not stand up for what they believe, nothing will be accomplished. Quiet hours would be implicated for all people in the dorm building and would help a lot of students. Two hours a day to have quiet time for work is all that would be needed. Students may develop better studying habits in their dorm rooms without distractions. Without this, students may have trouble studying in their rooms and never learn good study habits inside their rooms.