The student section is a pivotal part of student life in high school. The themes encourage participation and a leader, a senior, is there to lead cheers and organize the chaos. But after this year, I believe the student section is overrated, and you would get a better experience elsewhere.  

Being at the front of the student section is like a mythical rite of passage, something freshmen cannot wait to do. But honestly, it is better in the back. At the front, there is constant shuffling of people at the barrier. The competition to be at the front becomes like a popularity contest, with refusals to budge. Sometimes, the student section leader could not even get a spot on the crowded railing, and he had to stand a row back. 

The front row was also full of underclassmen who refused to stand anywhere else. These non-seniors took up traditional senior only spots, the first and second rows, and were never explicitly or seriously told to move. But at least these non-seniors were Central students! The front rows were also plagued by private school attending non-Eagles who took up coveted spots. Even after pleas from other seniors, the leading group said the underclassman and non-Central students were fine and so they stayed and so a precedent was set.  

After four years of waiting to be at the front of the student section with my friends, I was immensely disappointed.  

Throwing also became an issue and lasted most of the football season. From bottles and tin-foil hotdog wrappers to balls of pizza dough, projectiles were a constant threat to those at the front. Again, the leaders in the student section would briefly reprimand the people doing it but refuse to kick these students out.  

In previous years, if someone was disrupting the student section, they would be ousted. I remember a time when Isabel Hoiberg, the student section leader two years ago, promptly ousted a non-Central student from the section that was making my friends and I uncomfortable. Then, I knew she wanted to make it a good time for everyone. Now, it simply feels like a medium for a specific group of friends to have a good time, and everyone else is on their own.  

First, I believe the student section leader should be an elected position, like class president. This is a serious position, and I want to end the dynastical tradition it has become.  

Then, that leader needs to seriously hear out the concerns of everyone. If someone is having a consistent problem every week with someone, don’t allow the aggressor in, it is that simple. The student section is a privilege, not a right, and if you have not earned the privilege, then it’s too bad, so sad. Act better.  

During basketball season, I am looking forward to enjoying the game from the comfort of the broadcasting booth, far from the mayhem of the student section, and I could not be more excited.