It's a Monday morning and it's 43 degrees outside. My bed is warm and cozy. I don't have class till 5 p.m. and I plan on sleeping in until 1. Life is great, right?
Not for long.
The drilling, welding, and banging begins bright and early. There goes the 8 a.m. alarm I didn't set and didn't need. The new Red Jacket dining hall is being built, loudly and brashly, in building five at Ellicott Complex.
Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every week, the construction workers strive to ruin my sleep and build a dining hall that I won't be using.
Some days the construction is bearable. However, there are days where the pillow on my head is not enough to block the noise.
The construction noises are like a crying baby on a long flight. There is no escape and nothing you can do to make it stop. When I call my folks back in Dubai, they can hear it through the phone.
Since the construction began, I don't have a laundry room in my building. I have to walk to building six, through a dingy, covered walkway made of thin wood, metal rods, and plastic wrap holding it all together - that wrap is supposed to shield me from Buffalo's psychotic weather.
When the weather is playing mind games with me, I prefer to use a different laundry room. I walk through a maze, climb two flights of stairs with my heavy laundry bag in my hand, and get to the laundry room in building three. It's my workout for the day.
Occasionally, I have had to take cold showers because there was no hot water in the building, but at least we were notified beforehand.
Moreover, the entrance from the parking lot to building five is not accessible at times during the construction. I feel bad for the students who have to carry their luggage or heavy bags to get into Red Jacket, especially when it's snowing or raining because it can be one long walk.
I wonder what it's like for students who live on the floors below me who can see nothing but the construction and the workers. I wonder if the construction workers can look into their rooms.
"The construction is right outside my window," said Ranwala Arachchige, a sophomore economics major. "The construction is my view and I can feel the walls vibrating all the time."
Arachichige also has to walk outside to get to Richmond Dining Center for her brunch and dinner.
"During the summer, walking outside is fine," Arachchige said. "But when it's cold, I would rather stay in and not walk to Richmond, but I don't really have a choice."
The construction also impacts students who prefer to study in their rooms.
"Since I have late classes, I can't sleep in later because of the drilling," said Kimberly Yu, a senior business major. "I can't hear my lecture videos with all the noise outside either."
Finals week is coming up. How will I hold onto my sanity with the all the noise outside my window?
Some students like to study in their rooms, but due to the noise outside they are forced to study in the library. During finals week, getting a computer in the library is almost as hard as getting a good parking spot. As a result, students want to study in their rooms, but at Red Jacket, with all the noise, it's impossible.
I pay $3,114 per semester for a double room with an automatic 8 a.m. alarm that I don't want or need, drilling noises all day and night, and a long, cold hike to do my laundry.
For enduring all the loud and sleepless mornings, the students of Red Jacket buildings five and six were compensated 50 dining dollars from Campus Dining and Shopsand Campus Living.
I appreciate the gesture, but $50 is not worth the trouble Red Jacket students go through. It's unfair for Red Jacket students to have to pay the same amount as all the other students who live in different buildings in Ellicott but don't have to deal with the constant drilling noises.
This dining hall better be worth it.
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