Every year I’ve been at Masters, my grade has had an area in the school that most people would flock towards during breaks. Unfortunately, this year this is no longer true – there’s no space reserved for the senior class. I feel that Masters and the seniors should create a senior lounge again. 

When I was a freshman, before the Masters Hall renovations, I remember there being a lounge on the garden level of Masters Hall, and while my friends and I spent a lot of time there, a place where students could habitat towards was a privilege. While that lounge wasn’t specifically for seniors, I recall hearing stories from friends who had older siblings of the seniors who had their own lounge. The lounge was a cool senior privilege that united the grade, and it’s time we bring this back.

A walk around campus will show that there are spaces where the seniors hang out, mostly around the entrance to the library, but there isn’t a space that the grade can make their own– where everyone would want to spend time together. 

Multiple seniors have complained that the underclassmen take up the most desirable spaces on campus– there becomes a competition to occupy certain spaces.

Senior Francesco Desiderio commented on the crowded spaces and the want for a senior lounge. He said, “The library gets too crowded, so it would be nice to have one designated place for the seniors.” He continued, “A space that the seniors could have ownership over would hopefully bond the grade in a way that the class has lost since the pandemic.” 

  Past senior lounges have occupied multiple spaces on campus including on the first floor of the dining hall, in the library and even on the top floor of Masters Hall. 

Senior David Ferrando had two older siblings that utilized their senior lounges. He said that they would spend their free time together playing video games and socializing in their lounge.

The argument against a senior lounge is that having such a space would exclude most of the upper school students and that the seniors would be more removed and separated from the rest of the school. However, I believe that that argument would be trumped by the privilege the seniors would receive from having a space of their own. 

Starting next year, the space on the first floor of the dining hall now occupied by the IEC will not have a use because the new IEC building is opening. While many programs are surely hankering to occupy that space, one of the rooms should be designated as a senior lounge. 

Ferrando said, “A senior lounge would allow us to see people more often, especially since there isn’t a set spot that people go during their frees when they have no work to do.”

As a senior, I’ve tried to find spaces where seniors primarily hangout to potentially interact with different people outside of my normal circle. The missing communal space hinders the bonding that could and should happen as seniors. One of the rooms under the dining hall should turn into that space that the seniors can take ownership of.

Current junior Silas Rosenfeld hopes to enjoy such a privilege for his senior year. He said, “I think any rising senior would want to see a senior lounge that’s just dedicated to us.”