From a bump to your left, a push to your right, boy has getting to class become a fright.
Due to the surplus amount of students flying through the hallways of Briar Woods High School this year, it has become a common occurrence for rushing Falcons to get pummeled by a backpack or two daily.

“It makes me feel as if I am the ball in a pinball machine. Happens between classes everyday,” said Josh Kay, senior.

If upperclassmen, the top dogs, have to endure this pain, one knows something has changed the atmosphere of these once peaceful hallways.

Senior Sophie Nguyen, having battled five backpacks this year, is forced to keep a wary eye out for fatal traffic jams.

“Being bumped by a backpack makes me feel awkward. Usually it’s the stragglers in the hallway with oversized baggage. I just have to be careful for people who turn randomly because if they have a huge backpack…They’ll whack me,” said Nguyen.

Many Falcons did not feel there to be a major difference in the behavior in the hallways this year when compared to last year. However students said they have noticed a new sense of tension when paths to class begin to cramp.

“The hallway mobs before and after lunch can get especially bad. Some people will randomly start yelling at each other, and whoever is just trying to get to class is just thinking ‘Chill out! We've got six minutes,’” said Chloe Meister, junior.

Despite the hectic scene that can arise within a sea of backpacks, a few Falcons try to remain as polite as possible.

“If I hit somebody with my backpack, I usually turn around and apologize. If I am going through a tight crowd, I try to hold onto my backpack to ensure it does not smack anybody,” said Kay.

Though this amount of students and backpack battles will only increase through the years, the wish of the majority of the Falcon population becomes clear—a simple request for students to move out of the way of others walking if they wish to socialize, thus decreasing the amount of bruises we see in the halls already.

“They should treat the hallways like roads so we move faster,” said Kay.