De Soto High School is full of traditions. From painting a senior parking spot, to clapping at people who buy from the vending machines at lunch, to the band’s ‘Taco Song.’ DHS, along with every school, has its own unique qualities.

One that has been widely talked about throughout DHS is the locker setup. Until this year, there has always been a very specific locker hallway for each grade. However, with a very large freshman class, a change in the locker setup was a must. With this change has come some controversy.

“The juniors worked for two or three years to get those lockers, and then the freshmen came in and took them just because there’s more of them,” said junior Brooke Burford. “They took the lockers we earned.”

Because they are back in what was previously known as the freshman hallway, the junior class has not had the luxury of being closer to their classes.

As far as sophomores go, they’re everywhere. In past years, sophomores were in one specific area near the juniors. Now, the sophomore lockers are spread throughout the school. There are sophomore lockers in the new freshman hallway, the junior hallway, even a few at the end of the senior hallway. The chaos of the sophomore lockers is affecting them specifically in social aspects.

“All of my friends are in a completely different hallway than me, so I never get to see them,” sophomore Kirstin Cuba said.

Many believe that friends are an important part of high school and not being able to see them can make the school year miserable. The freshman class, on the other hand, is seeing it in a different light.

“I think [changing the lockers] was a good idea, because as freshmen, you’re a little bit more nervous, so being closer to your classes is better,” said freshman Hannah Knight.

Switching the freshman and junior hallway was supposed to help with the crowd, but in some perspectives, it hasn’t quite done it’s job.

“The freshmen are always really crowded in the hallway,” Cuba said, “that makes it really hard to get to my locker in the morning.”

Not being able to get to your locker, as well as being at the opposite end of the school from all your classes, can affect students making it to class on time.

“The freshmen last year were really late to classes,” Cuba said “so I guess that’s good for them.”

While the freshman class is benefitting in this way, the juniors aren’t so lucky.

“I’m far away from all of my classes, and I was really looking forward to getting a junior locker this year,” Burford said.

Many students are looking for another change in the lockers. But what will that look like?

“I think the freshmen should have their normal lockers [in the old freshman hall] and just extend it farther down, and put the juniors back where they were,” Burford said.