I rush into my room right after school, hoping to grab my equipment and run to sports. As soon as I open the door, I see five boys in my room; one from the Band unit, two from the Troop, one from Battery, and another from Company. I pause a moment to absorb my situation; five teenagers in my room all focused on my TV, comfortably taking over the beds that occupy my room. The phrase, “make yourselves at home,” was never used by neither me nor my roommates, yet these kids had already done just that. One of my major pet peeves is the constant overflowing amount of people consuming the resources and space throughout my room.

My room is located on the first floor, and is the first room when stepping into the Troop barracks; and I love it. However, it’s so easily accessible that others find it to be on the way to their final destination whenever they come to Troop. People see the opportunity to play a quick game of Xbox or just visit me or one of my other two roommates. It would be fine if one person a day would come and do this, but, life is never fair, as there are never less than three people in my room.

The worst part about the entire situation is not the mere presence of people in my living quarters, but rather what they do when they are there. They begin by casually walking into the room, as if it is no bother for them to be there. The boys find their way to my bed and take a seat, without consideration of the time it took me to make it. If I might be asleep, they would not hesitate to disturb me and abruptly awake me from my nap. I have been jumped on, carried out of bed, and woken up in ways I wouldn’t consider anything close to humane. As they leave the room, either by choice or by force, they always leave us a little present; perhaps a candy wrapper on my windowsill, sometimes a half eaten lollipop on my desk- someone once even left a full piece of cake that they had dropped on the floor. I wonder how someone can be foolish enough to do something like this.
There is a limit to how much a group of kids can be around you before they annoy you; I have found that limit on countless occasions. I often find that the only place for solitude and peace is in the bathroom in a locked stall. Though I enjoy the company of my friends, they need to understand the suffering we as a room endure every single day. It is time to lock the revolving door into my room and the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob.