It has gotten to the point where it is pointless to even set my alarm for the morning because I know I will be up at 7:30 a.m. However, each night before I go to bed, I still set it in the hopes that — for whatever reason — there will not be construction in the morning. This theory has been proved false every morning except for one. To my surprise, one day two weeks ago I woke up to the joyful sound of my own alarm going off. All day I thought that maybe that was the end of the pounding.

However, much to my dismay the next morning, I realized that the only reason they had stopped was because they were in the process of acquiring another pile driver. So instead of waking up to the sound and fury of one pile driver, I was woken up by the sounds of two competing pile drivers. That morning almost pushed me right over the edge.

I understand that, for many, the work day goes from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. However, for many college students it does not. When I stay out until midnight studying because I don’t have an early class the next day, I look forward to that extra time that I will be able to sleep the next morning. But for the past two months, I have been denied that luxury. Whenever I am out studying, I consciously think, “Well, it’s 10:00 p.m. now, so maybe I should go home and get ready for bed because will be getting up at 7:30 a.m.”

I don’t know about anyone else, but for the past two years I was perfectly content parking my car in the surface lot formerly known as Lot E. I was able to see my car from my apartment, which gave me an extra feeling of security. But I guess this parking structure is much better than Lot E, because now I am paying $200 more to park my car all the way across campus with the added bonus of being woken up every morning.

Craighead is a senior physical therapy major.