It is a right handed dominate world, but 10 percent of the population do not agree. The left handed person gets pushed to the side and has no power in this dominated right handed world. As a left handed person, sitting in desks that are only designed for right handed students is not only uncomfortable, but distracting. Lefties are forced to contort themselves uncomfortably in an effort to reach across the desk and take notes; their hand smudges almost everything they write, and desks are designed not for them but for their reflection. In lecture halls, desks are arranged as one long table, I have to be on the far left end so that I’m not being placed in the middle and bumping other people. And when I’m placed next to someone, I have to make room for their right arm as I’m pushed to the side. Even though the left handed population is so small, it is still a factor of interfering with the learning experience when one can’t comfortably write. Eastern doesn’t provide the proper desk to work with students who are left handed.  By making the desks more ergonomic for both right and left students and staff, it allows a compromise: students would feel comfortable in their learning environment, which result in focusing more in class. They might be labeled as a “disability” being left handed, but they aren’t and don’t need to be treated as if they are. Being a leftie is hard enough; school shouldn’t be an uncomfortable environment to learn in.

Karly V Kayler